


Royalty Without A Kingdom

by orphan_account



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: (instead of being similar), Allura and Lance also are the grandchildren of Zarkon, Allura is aged up, Altean cheek crescents are universal translators bc they're a diplomatic race, Altean lance, F/M, He was also trained to be the Blue Paladin, He's Allura's brother, I'll tag people as they become more important, Lance-centric, M/M, Pidge switches between they/she pronouns at the beginning, Texas Keith confirmed (but also Texas Shiro), Their dynamic with Haggar and Zarkon has changed, You all know the type, and so that I don't accidentally write a weird fic about her and Shiro, both so that she and Lance have more of an older/younger sibling dynamic, eventually female pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, keith and shiro are adoptive brothers, kind of turned into a bodyguard au but I'm trying to keep it original
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-24
Updated: 2017-07-31
Packaged: 2018-09-26 17:08:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 106,755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9912623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Prince Allances (just call him Lance) knew he was having a bad day when he woke up in a cryopod light years away from Altea with the Blue Paladin gone.His day got somewhat better and worse as he found his sister, and realized that he'd have to become a paladin a little sooner than he thought-- alongside stupidKeithwith his weird hair and weirder ears and cute eyes-- ahem.Meanwhile, why is Allura so angry about the Galra when Lance's grief seems to extend beyond Altea?





	1. "Who are You?"

**Author's Note:**

> Ahahahahahaha it's not like I have any _other_ stories I'm supposed to be updating, right? Nah... we're in this for the long-haul, folks. 
> 
> Also, the thing about Zarkon and Haggar will come back later, I promise. It's actually very, very important.

When the Galra came, Lance was training in the courtyard with the Blue Paladin. Relations had been deteriorating since the Queen had died, but King Alfor was still optimistic.

Then Flurralin was turned to dust.  
In the flurry following the evacuation of the capital city, Lance didn’t realize what was happening until the Blue Paladin picked him up and dragged him onto Blue.  
“Wh—the lions are the other way!” Lance protested.

“They should be.” The Blue Paladin was uncharacteristically serious.  
“No, what about Voltron?!”  
“We _can’t_ form Voltron without the Black Paladin! Zarkon could break us apart if we tried to replace him!” The Blue Paladin snapped.

Lance stepped back. “Hreth…”  
She sighed, passing one of her many hands over her eyes. “You should get some rest, Allances.”  
“Where is Allura? Where’s Father?”  
Blue withdrew a syringe without Lance noticing. “I don’t know—I don’t know where any of the other Paladins are. Rest assured though, they’d be high priorities.”

“Hreth, it’s—why are you so serious? It’s going to be okay, right?”  
The Blue Paladin wrestled with herself for a moment—literally, one of her arms wrestled another—before she acquiesced. “It’s all going to be okay. I promise. Besides, it takes more than a silly Galra to take down a Paladin of Voltron!”  
But Lance was taken down very easily by a syringe to the neck.

“Hreth…” He gasped as his vision darkened and he collapsed. Softly, lovingly, the Blue Paladin picked him up. “Goodbye, Allances.”

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

When Lance woke up, there was a group of aliens surrounding him, a hand on his shoulder, and one of the aliens coming _far_ too close. From here, he could tell _this_ one was an alien because it had the _weirdest_ ears Lance had ever seen.

Lance sat up, knocking the alien in the head. “What are you doing?”  
The alien babbled something unintelligible, but seemed embarrassed. Lance messed with his translator implants in his cheekbones as the other aliens began talking.

“—believe you were going to kiss him!” The small alien with floofy hair snickered.  
Lance made finger guns. “Believe _this_ — I am totally down for being woken up with a kiss, and maybe even more.”  
The one with the weird hair who was going to kiss him turned red. “This-this… you were awake the whole time?!”  
“You speak English?” The husky one asked.

Lance shrugged. “No. My translator always gets knocked out, but I fixed it.” He tapped one of the crescents on his cheeks. “Now, who are you? Where am I? Where’s Hreth?”  
“Slow down.” The muscled one with mismatched hair answered. “My name is Takashi Shirogane, this is my brother Keith, and his friends Pidge Gunderson and Hunk Garrett. You’re on Earth.”  
Lance glanced at the hand this Takashi Shirogane offered, then back at Takashi, then back at the hand. “Which is… where, exactly?”

“Milky Way Galaxy?” The short floofy one identified as Pidge answered.  
“Hmmm… no. Doesn’t ring a bell. Where’s Hreth? Where’s Blue?”

“You’re the only one we’ve found.” The big one (Hunk, apparently) replied. “Can you tell us what these markings are?”  
“Can you tell us what you were doing, playing Snow White?” Keith hissed.  
“I don’t know what _you_ mean, so I’m going to assume that’s an insult.” Lance replied. “And these? They’re about Blue. Look.” He pressed his hand against the stone, stepping back as it lit up.

Part of the floor crumbled away, and he could _just_ see Blue underneath. “Come on, this way! There’s Blue!”  
He scrambled down without waiting for the aliens, then looked around wildly. “Hreth? Hreth! I’m awake!”  
Blue’s forcefield came down, and she gave a low rumble.  
“Yeah, just wait a tick, Blue! _Hreth_! Where are you?”

“Who’s Hreth?” Pidge asked.  
“My friend—she’s the Blue Paladin, this is _her_ lion… she made the carvings… how fresh did they look?” He turned to Hunk, as he seemed the most trustworthy.  
“Thousands of years old.”  
“Alright. So, _Keith_. How did you open my cryopod anyway?” Lance asked suspiciously.

“I didn’t! It popped open on it’s own.” Keith protested.  
“Uh huh, _sure_. That would only happen if I’d been in there for… 10,000 years? I’m not good with the mechanics, but it would be impossible. Hreth would have gotten me out.”  
“I don’t think so. The exact date was all over the cave up there, I spent _months_ figuring it out!” Keith protested.

Lance frowned. “It’s not… Hreth wouldn’t have… Blue will know.” Blue’s jaw snapped open, and all of the aliens and Lance ended up in the cockpit.  
“When are we…?” Lance muttered to himself as he pulled up the relevant information. Then he stared at the screen. “No. No no no…”  
“I’m sure your friend was in a pod just like yours.” The mismatched one—Takashi? No, didn’t one call him Shiro before he got the translator up? Shiro said kindly.

“There’s only one per lion.” Lance remarked, before taking a deep breath. “I need to find the rest of Voltron before… before Zarkon does.”  
“Wait, Voltron? What’s Voltron?” Pidge interjected as Shiro muttered to himself, “Zarkon…?”  
Lance forced a brilliant smile. “ _Voltron_ is the universe’s greatest weapon. And you, lucky aliens, are in its right leg right now.”

“Wait, its leg? How does that work?” Hunk asked.  
“Good question. Sit down, and I’ll show you.” Lance reached forward, and felt Blue enter his mind like so many times during training with Hreth. Except this time, it was just him. _Maybe_ the other lions in the distance, but they were little more than a whisper.

“Let’s go home.” Lance whispered, pushing a lever. Within seconds, the aliens were thrown around.  
“Are you trying to kill us?!” Keith yelled.  
“Oh, you’ll be _fine_!” Lance yelled back. “I’m one of the most promising fliers on Altea!”  
“Promise doesn’t mean you’re good yet!” Keith hissed.

Just for that, Lance did a barrel roll. Screw Keith in particular.

They finally made it to the Castle of the Lions, encountering a Galra ship on the way. Lance practically threw himself out of Blue in their escape. He remembered seeing the stars for the first time in a ship like that one, how the soldiers had taken quicker to him than his sister and for once _he_ was the special one.  
Mother was gone. Hreth was gone. _Altea_ was gone. Please, gods, let there be _someone_ left.

He ran to the medical bay, the aliens following him. He nearly cried with relief when he saw Allura and Coran in the pods.  
He unlocked Allura’s first.  
“What are you doing—” Shiro automatically threw up his arms to catch Allura.  
“Wha… who are you?” Allura asked.

“Uh…”  
“Your ears… they’re hideous…” she pointed out, before stepping back. “Who _are_ you?”  
“That’s honestly what I’d like to know about you?” Hunk muttered.  
Allura’s lips were a thin line. “Where is King Alfor? What are you doing here?!”

“We were brought here by a giant, flying, mechanical blue lion.” Pidge pointed out. “At this point, your guess is _better_ than ours.”  
“A blue lion…? Where is its Paladin…?” Allura caught sight of Lance and marched over, pulling him into a tight hug. “I thought you were dead!”  
“Aw, Allura, that’s so sweet--- _ow ow stop!_ ” Lance howled as Allura grabbed the tip of his ear.

“I thought you were _dead_.” She repeated. “Where were you?! Where’s Hreth?”  
“Hreth took me to some place from Earth! I just woke up from a cryopod myself! _Stop_!”  
Allura finally released Lance. “How long has it been?”

“Long enough.” Lance muttered. “Blue said it was ten thousand years.”  
“Who _are_ you?” Keith asked. “Both of you?”  
“I am Princess Allura of Altea. This is my younger brother, Allances.” Allura replied. “We call him Lance most of the time. Lance, get Coran out while I verify that it’s really been that long. Blue has been known to play tricks, after all.”  
“That was one time!” Lance hissed, but he smiled in spite of himself.

“Enemy combatants--! Oh, Allances, there you are! Quick, boy, get in the pod, I’ll handle these!” Coran twirled his moustache most impressively.  
“Why does everyone want to fight my new buddies?” Lance huffed.  
“Why do you think we’re your friends?” Keith asked.

“Smooth, Keith.” Pidge commented.    
“Because he seems pretty chill, actually?” Hunk added. “I’d be friends with him.”  
“ _Thank you_ , Hunk. Keith—go quiznak yourself.”  
Coran and Allura both gasped. “That is _not_ proper language for a prince!” Coran reprimanded. Allura stepped away from the screen, hands shaking. She apparently hadn’t heard Lance. “Coran, Allances… Altea is gone. The entire solar system is gone. We’re all that’s left. He destroyed everything.”  
“Who?” Hunk asked.

“Zarkon.” Allura spat. “A ruthless, cruel, _traitorous_ king of the Galra.”  
“Breathe.” Coran reminded her gently.  
Shiro looked shell-shocked. “But… he… I was his prisoner!”

“How long do humans last?” Lance wondered briefly.  
“ _Not_ ten thousand years.” Keith snarked.  
Lance stuck out his tongue. “I knew that.”  
“No you didn’t.”  
“I did!”

“Allances, …other one… can we please all just calm down for a moment?” Coran begged. “Do you want me to give you the _talk_ on the subject of--?”  
“No!” Lance and Allura said together, flushing.  
“Never again.” Lance stated firmly.  
“Once was enough.” Allura agreed.

“Princess, Zarkon was searching for something called Voltron?” Shiro tried.  
“It’s the only thing that can defeat him.” Allura agreed. “We need to find it before Zarkon.”  
“Also it’s an enormous super weapon that can get revenge for Altea.” Lance interjected. “Like this; schwang, schwang, pew pew pew pew, thunk thunk, arghhhh get wrecked, Zarkon!” Lance pantomimed a series of weapons.

“Yes… Princess, Prince, when is the last time that either of you ate?”  
“That’s easy, it was breakfast with…” Lance trailed off, and Coran rolled his eyes. “So you haven’t eaten for ten thousand years! Both of you simply _must_ eat!”  
“I’m not hungry.” Allura replied. “Like Lance said—we ate a large breakfast.”  
“Princess, you had porridge, and he had half of a bowl of goo.” Coran pointed out.

“I haven’t eaten anything since yesterday’s dinner, and I’m starving.” Hunk interjected. “Let alone ten thousand years.”  
“Exactly, we should all eat!” Coran said, pushing Allura and Lance away from the pods. “Let’s not dwell on this in front of the Paladins, we can talk later, alright?” He whispered to them.  
Alarms began to blare before Allura could reply. “There’s a Galra ship heading straight for us!”

“How long do we have before it gets here?” Shiro asked.  
“Well… let’s see… carry the two, add the one… I’d say a couple of quintants!” Coran remarked. “Enough time for us to find the lions of Voltron!”  
“How? Where are they? How many are there?” Pidge fired off questions

“We need to find three; we have the Blue Lion thanks to Lance, and we have the Black Lion hidden here in the castle. We need all four lions to open its hatch—an extra precaution against Zarkon. Speaking of which—we need pilots, and I see no reason why the four of you shouldn’t pilot the lions. The universe brought you all here for a reason, after all.”

“What if the other trainees are still alive?” Lance asked. “What if they had cryopods as well?”  
Allura took a deep breath. “Allances, you may have to accept that’s not entirely feasible. The Green and Red lions are large enough to carry cryopods, Tavro-- the Black Lion’s trainee would have been interred with Coran and I, and the Yellow Lion is used to taking the bulk of the blow. It wouldn’t be used for transport of something as delicate as a cryopod.”

“But—”  
“ _No_ , Lance. You have to accept that they’re gone.” Allura said firmly. “Just like-like… like Altea.”  
“How are we going to find the other lions?” Shiro stepped in before she could break down.  
“King Alfor was very clever! He tied the lions to Allura’s life force… well, most of them. Red is tied to both Allura _and_ Allances, because Alfor didn’t know at the time what would happen! And after Allances was chosen by the Blue Lion to become a paladin in the future, he transferred the lion from Allura to Lance.” Coran interjected.

“And while we’re on the subject of the lions, I’d like to get back to the four of you piloting the other four, if you’re willing. Pidge, you would pilot the Green Lion, which is known for its inquisitive spirit and intellect. You will form the left arm of Voltron. Hunk, you will pilot the Yellow Lion, known for its heart and loyalty. You will form the left leg of Voltron. Keith, you will pilot the Red Lion—”

“ _What_?!” Lance broke in. “ _Him_?! Allura, you can’t be serious!”  
“We can’t all have been chosen as trainees.” Keith huffed. “What’s your problem, anyway?”  
“Give him the Black Lion!” Lance begged. “He—Keith can’t—it will never work!”  
“From what I know of Keith, I am fairly certain that at this stage of his life, he is not a natural leader.” Allura replied smoothly. “No one else suits that lion better, Lance. Now _please_ get over whatever differences you have with Keith before Coran decides to give us that talk again.”

“He was going to kiss _me_.” Lance muttered.  
Keith heard. “I thought you were unconscious!”  
“I _was_ unconscious—wait, do you go around kissing unconscious people in caves?” Lance demanded. “What the hell, Keith?”  
“It was—it was Pidge’s idea!” Keith protested.

“It’s a human fairytale and I was mostly joking.” Pidge slid their glasses up their nose, but smirked nonetheless.  
“Paladins, pay attention. Keith, you will need to earn the respect of the Red Lion. It’s the fastest and most agile, but the most temperamental. You will form the right arm of Voltron. Finally, Shiro, you will have the most important job. As the Black Lion, you will form the head of Voltron. You have been chosen for this because you are decisive, and a natural-born leader.”

A small map appeared around her, two points blinking up in the universe in yellow and green. “That’s odd… Lance, come here and see if you can help me find the Red Lion.”  
Lance moved to join his sister. “It’d be harder to track if it’s moving.”  
“For the last time, it’s not—” Allura trailed off as a slowly blinking red dot appeared. “It is. Well, if it’s coming for us anyway… Lance, take Hunk and go get the Yellow Lion. Shiro, Pidge, you should go get the Green Lion. Coran, please load up their coordinates. I will work on the castle’s defenses.”

“What about me?” Keith asked.  
“You can help me with the defenses. And you know, if you finish early, we might have tea together.” Allura smiled brightly, but both Lance and Coran’s heads whipped towards her.

“ _Why_ are you having tea with Keith?” Lance demanded. “Do we even _have_ tea?”  
“Of course we have tea, as well as other provisions!” Coran protested. “But, really Princess, they’ve just met—”  
“All the better to do it as soon as possible!” Allura said.  
Lance narrowed his eyes at his sister. “This had better not be what I think it is. Come on, Hunk. We need to hurry back— Allura, can you boot up the wormholes?”  
“You’ll only have two vargas.” Allura replied with a nod.

“What are vargas?” Shiro asked.  
“They’re 180 ticks!” Coran replied. “Anyway, Lance is right—off you pop!”


	2. I meant to reveal this twist about Zarkon and Lance later but never mind

“So… where are we headed?” Hunk asked, hanging onto the back of Lance’s chair as the Blue Lion blasted towards a wormhole.  
“Coran said it was peaceful… a quarry planet, I think? Should be similar to a Balmera.” Lance noted. “But… less crystals, more rocks?”  
“So… rocks?” Hunk asked, filing away whatever a 'Balmera' was to ask about later.

Lance lit up. “Yes! By the way, what are you doing with _Keith_? I mean, you seem pretty cool, unlike him…”  
Hunk picked up that Lance was more fishing for information than maligning Keith. “Keith is a really good pilot, though? Pidge and I got placed with him our first year because no one else wanted to work with him and our designated pilot kind of… disappeared from existence—you’ve seen Keith’s temper, but he’s nice when he’s not going off every five minutes—and he’s really dedicated and stuff.”

“I… see…” Lance looked away.  
“Look, don’t be put off by Keith being… Keith. We’re teammates, he’s going to warm up to you.”  
Lance very nearly stopped the Blue Lion dead in its tracks. “What…”  
“Hey, Keith being a nice person isn’t such a strange idea.” Hunk pointed out, before Lance tugged on his arm. “Those look like Galra ships.”

“Didn’t Coran say it was peaceful?” Hunk asked.  
“I guess a lot can change in ten thousand years.” Lance pushed one of the levers forward, bringing Blue down. “I may not be able to land properly, so get ready for the drop!”  
“Wait, _what_?!” Hunk demanded.  
“Don’t _worry_ —you know what the other trainees called me? They called me the Sharpshooter, because I always hit the target!” The Galra had noticed them, and were now pursuing.

“It’s not about hitting the target, it’s about dropping me from the lion while it’s moving!” Hunk protested.  
“Then you’d better brace yourself. Earthans are related to Klimowaks, right? You have solid bones? You’ll be fine!” Lance dodged a blast from a Galran robot, sending Blue into a corkscrew.  
“Okay, I’m _certain_ we told you we’re _Earthlings_ already, but just because we have solid bones, that _doesn’t_ mean we’re able to just… drop out of moving vehicles!”  
Lance glanced back at Hunk, interested. “ _Really_? I mean, I’m pretty sure a Galran or Altean would survive… better cover whatever your species finds most important! I don’t know how long I can hold them off!”  
“Lance, _no!_ ” Hunk howled.

“Get ready! Three!”  
Hunk looked around desperately for anything to cover himself.  
“Two!”  
Finding nothing, he settled for crouching and covering his head.  
“One!”

Lance dropped the floor out from Hunk, who managed to use the momentum to somehow roll himself into the cave where the Yellow Lion was. He then turned back to the Galra ships, and took a deep breath. “Blue, can you do that sonar thing I’ve seen Hreth do?”  
Blue either could not remember or did not want to. Something about being unearned? It wasn’t entirely clear.  
“ _Blue_ , this is serious!” Lance hissed. “We could _die_!”

Blue had absolutely no intention of letting them die, and told Lance so. But that did not mean that he could be treated like a fully trained Paladin yet.

Meanwhile, several nebulas away, Pidge and Shiro were enjoying a leisurely ride down a river, guided by an enormous sloth. The sloth’s name was Karekekkekkar, and they were descended from the original Green paladin (who had also been one of the sloth people) but neither Shiro nor Pidge were aware of this.

“When you and Keith and Hunk rescued me… you asked about Kerberos…” Shiro began.  
Pidge crossed their arms. “You were the pilot, and you’re still alive.”  
“Katie, I don’t know where Matt and Sam are, I’m sorry.”  
Pidge’s head snapped up, then she sighed. “How long have you known?”  
“Since I woke up and saw you sitting on Keith’s couch.” Shiro smiled. “You’re a deadringer for your brother like this, did you know that? But Katie, I’m sure they’re out there somewhere. And we’re going to bring them home.”

Pidge threw herself at Shiro, hugging him tightly.  
Karekekkekkar scolded them for rocking the boat, even if they understood that the small one was trying to seek comfort from the larger one knowing their family. Or maybe the small one thought the large one had good food, and was trying to steal it? Apes were like that, in Karekekkekkar’s humble opinion.

On Arus, Coran had quickly pulled Keith aside. “Listen, I need you to stay away from Allura for two vargas until Lance returns, otherwise objects may be set in motion that _no one_ wants to deal with at the moment, alright?”  
“Um… sure? But she asked me to tea.”  
“No, she asked you to _tea_. And it wasn’t about the _tea_ … you know what? Remind me to tell you about Altean courtship when the other paladins are here.”

“Altean _what now_?!” Keith demanded. First he had almost kissed Lance (who was cute but _infuriating_ ) and now Princess Allura apparently wanted to _date_ him?! How? Why? They had literally just met!

“Courtship.” Coran repeated. “Specifically, your courtship of Allances.”  
That was not much better. Keith opened his mouth to condemn that particular notion _thank you very much_ but Coran apparently heard Allura coming because he shoved Keith and hissed, “ _Run!_ ”

On Earth, Colleen Holt was trying to maintain a normal life. She really, truly was, even if Katie was gone, not to mention Sam and Matt. Normal people turned on the television, and watched the news.

Normal people learned that cadet _Pidge Gunderson_ —a combination of Katie’s childhood nickname and  Katie’s favorite author’s surname—had gone missing with a boy in the middle of the desert.  
Colleen covered her mouth. Two crying women appeared onscreen, begging their son to return or be returned.

 _Not Katie too_.

But then there was that Iverson again—he didn’t seem as apologetic as he should be, considering he lost two… well, she didn’t know the other one, but Katie was definitely a child. He _knew_ something, and given what Katie had told her last time she got kicked out of that cursed school…  
Colleen made a decision. She would hold herself together long enough to bring _every single one_ of them home, even if they were nothing but ash and bone. Even if she had to go to the end of the universe itself.

And she’d start by returning to her old contacts— the United States government was never going to give her the answers she sought if she retained her civilian level clearance.

In space, finally, three lions and a pod returned to the castle.

“Hunk is the _man_!” Lance crowed as he entered the control room with Hunk.  
“It was nothing. Seriously, it was nothing—I was trying to dodge the Galran ships myself.” Hunk pointed out.  
“We had a hard time too.” Pidge said with a smile to Shiro. “Or at least, an emotionally taxing one.”

Keith, who had been sprinting around the castle more or less nonstop since Coran told him to, finally entered the control room. Upon seeing Lance, he loudly exclaimed, “I am _not_ marrying you!”  
“Um…” Hunk’s eyes darted between Lance and Keith. “Okay? No one expected you to?”  
“You’re a little young for marriage, Keith.” Shiro agreed.

Lance, however, was glaring at his sister. “Allura, what did you _tell_ him?!”  
“Nothing! I couldn’t find him the entire time!” Allura huffed. “Neither could the Space Mice.”  
“Space Mice?” Pidge repeated.  
“They’re… unimportant, for the moment. But what _is_ important is that we’ve finally found the Red Lion—it’s onboard the Galra ship heading straight for us.” Allura said solemnly.  
“Which is approaching faster than we thought!” Coran added. “So… we only have a few vargas instead of quintants… or you know what? Even potentially doboshes!”

Lance very visibly winced. “Blue isn’t… she says I need to _earn_ being treated like Hreth, so I’m back down to the level of the others.”  
“So we have three lions unable to access their full power, one inaccessible lion, and one captured by the Galra.” Hunk breathed. “Fine. That’s… fine. Great, really.”  
“Princess Allura of Altea, surrender your lions and Zarkon will—” A voice boomed over the loudspeakers.  
“Not doing that.” Coran said, pressing a button hurriedly, disconnecting the transmission.

“We need to raise the particle barrier.” Allura told Coran.  
“No, we need to _leave_. We can’t form Voltron with the worst trainee whose lion _will not_ work with him, two pilots who were not trained to be pilots at their flight school, Father’s lion in the hands of the Galra, and Gr… the Black Lion squirrelled away somewhere here where only the mice can get to it!” Lance hissed at his sister.  
Allura glared at him. “I realize you’re frustrated, but that’s no reason for cowardice, Allances! They were chosen for a _reason_ —as for the Black and Red Lions, there is a simple solution; we must get the Red Lion, and with it will come the Black Lion.”  
“I’m not being a coward!” Lance growled. “I’m being _smart_ about this! You’re always telling me to grow up and take things seriously—why do you think Father, who had _all_ the lions, chose not to fight?!”

“Okay, okay, break it up!” Shiro ordered. “We still have time, let’s talk this through calmly.”  
“If I may… I know someone who may be able to help.” Coran said.  
“Who?” Keith asked. “I ran the entirety of the castle. I’ve only seen us.”  
“Well… King Alfor.” Coran replied. “Allura and Lance’s father. I have his memories uploaded into the computer.”

He ushered Lance and Allura into another room, then returned to the computer console, pulling up the particle barrier. Then he looked at the Paladins. “If worst came to worst, Allura and Allances together could force the door with the Black Lion open. King Alfor _did_ give it a failsafe.”  
“What about the Red Lion?” Keith asked, feeling strangely powerless.

Coran sighed. “I… the Red Lion responds well to Alfor’s family. His wife even flew her for a while when he was moved up to Black Paladin and no one wanted to leave their lions. He had probably even hoped that Allances might one day fly her, but… oh, you meant about _you_. Don’t worry, you are the spitting image of a young Red Paladin. If you’re crazy enough to get yourself up there, it will bond with you like _that_!” Coran snapped his fingers.

“So… we’re staying, then?” Hunk asked.  
“Probably.” Coran agreed. “But, while they have an ion cannon and we won’t last forever and the Red Paladin needs his lion, I wouldn’t recommend going out there alone yet.”  
“Well, yeah, we need a plan.” Pidge agreed.

In the room with the computer, the background had changed to a field, and King Alfor’s hologram stood in the middle.  
“It’s good to see you, children.” He smiled. “Allura, I can’t tell you how happy I am that you made it out alive.”  
Lance moved so that he was on Allura’s other side.

“A Galra ship is set to attack—we’re missing the Red Lion, and can’t get the Black Lion out without it. Should we run to fight another day? Should we stand our ground?” Allura asked.  
“You both know how I disbanded Voltron to keep it out of y—out of Zarkon’s hands. At the time, I thought it was the right move, instead of the usual impulsiveness of a Red Paladin that has plagued me for years.”

“So, we should take the castle into a wormhole?” Lance asked.  
Alfor frowned. “No. I was wrong then— if the other Paladins and I had stood together against Zarkon, we would not be here today.”  
“What about the Black Paladin?” Lance replied. “Gr—you can’t just replace a Paladin, and Tavrotine was nowhere near ready. _I_ ’m nowhere near ready. We could die.”

“Then die well. Your mother and I will be waiting for you.” Alfor replied softly, before switching off.  
There was silence for a moment, then Allura said, “You’re not going to die, Allances. I’d take down Zarkon myself before I let that happen, alright?” She pulled him into a tight hug. “But we _need_ to do this, and we need to do it now.”

Lance took a deep breath, nodded, and smiled. “Hey, no problem for the number one paladin! C’mon, we gotta go get Red, right?”  
They returned to the other Paladins, and Allura led them to the armory. “Here are the suits of armor for the previous Paladins. They will shrink or grow to fit you, so please don’t worry about sizes.”  
Lance clicked into his mechanically, then realized that Hreth had died in their armor, and so had the other Paladins. This was _his_ armor, and that was Tavrotine’s, and Keith was wearing Myri’s, and—he caught himself. They could be about to die, he couldn’t dwell on that. He couldn’t let them see. He fixed a smile on his face once more as Allura brought out the bayards.

Honestly, Lance was a bit excited to see what they had. He remembered the other trainee’s faces when their bayards transformed for the first time. And honestly, the bayards seemed just like another piece of home. Coran probably squirrelled away photos of him and Allura as babies respectively gnawing on the red bayard years ago.

Not when it was in use, of course. King Alfor had wielded a Morningstar, which admittedly looked a lot like the traditional Galran rattle he’d been given but without the plushness and squeaking. Myri had wielded some sort of scimitar. Keith ended up having a normal sword, which was a bit disappointing.  
Zarkon had had a scythe most of the time, before Elcmanus.  
The Green Paladins had respectively had a lasso and a grappling hook. Pidge had some weird, triangular electric thing (trust him to find out that last one almost immediately by running his mouth).  
Hreth had always used a trident.  
The Yellow Paladins had had, respectively, an enormous hammer and an enormous mace. So imagine Lance’s surprise when instead of an enormous weapon with which to bludgeon enemies to death, Hunk had an enormous gun.

It wasn’t the same as Lance’s rifle, no two bayards were the same, just as no two Paladins were the same. But there was always _variety_. And a shoulder cannon sounded a lot like a rifle when you thought about it. Except rifles were meant for surprise, but what was the point of that when you were right in front of the enemy?

However, it couldn’t be bad that he had another range weapon alongside him, right…? He tuned back in to whatever his sister was saying. “You’ll need to enter the ship and find the red lion.”  
“How?” Keith asked. “Can you give me directions, or anything?”

“You just kind of… have to feel it.” Hunk said. “Trust me, you will.”  
“It’s kind of like how we felt—well, you felt much longer—Blue in the desert but much stronger?” Pidge added.  
Lance blinked. “You… you felt Blue?”  
“For nearly a year, yeah.” Keith nodded.

“And you didn’t come wake me up?” Lance demanded, shaking the other Paladin.  
“I didn’t know you were there!” Keith protested.  
“I mean he was kind of obvious.” Pidge adjusted their glasses. “It wasn’t like he was buried or anything.”  
“Yeah he kind of stood out. He was the first thing I noticed.” Hunk agreed.

“Okay guys, let’s not get sidetracked over who was watching who sleep or who mysteriously failed to free someone else from their cryopod or even who had pictures of the other on their conspiracy board surrounded by question marks.” Shiro interrupted.  
Allura grinned, and Coran sighed. “This is just like Alfor and Idras…”  
“Two of those things…” Lance began.

Keith turned a violent shade of red. “Are-aren’t we in danger? Aren’t we about to die?! Focus on the plan!”  
“Right, here’s what we should do…” Lance began, with the others chiming in and adding ideas along the way.

Less than a varga later, he and Hunk were flying towards the Galra ship. Lance opened a hailing frequency as soon as he was able.  
“Surrender Paladins, and you may yet—” The Galra in charge growled.  
Lance held up a hand. “We surrender. We are missing three lions, we know we cannot form Voltron. Besides, I miss my family.”  
“And who might you be?” The Galra growled.

“Prince Allances of Altea, son of King Alfor and Queen Idras.”  
The Galra was silent for a moment, then leaned back. “And your sister?”  
Lance drew a deep breath, secretly congratulating himself on his excellent acting. “She…. Needs a bit of convincing. She was always closer to our father than I was. I preferred my mother’s family, as you can see.”  
“You and the Yellow Paladin must sit still while we tractor you in—I will of course be hailing your grandfather to know what to do with you.”  
“Of course.” Lance replied easily, softly checking his sleeve to make sure the small explosives were there. "Take all the time that you need.”

The hailing frequency between Lance and the Galra cut out, and Hunk asked, “So… what did he mean by your grandfather? He’s gotta be dead, right?”  
Lance leaned back. “My mother was the only daughter of Zarkon and the druid Haggar, and their eldest child.”  
“Wh… oh, shit. You’re Zarkon’s grandson? You’re part Galra?!”

Lance stretched. “Yep.”  
“You don’t look Galra.”  
“I am, though? Only a quarter. And Alteans are shape-shifters… Allura prefers it when we look fully Altean, because some people are terrible, and I acquiesce when I can. …does it change anything?”

Hunk shook his head firmly. “No. Nope. Not at all.”  
Lance grinned. “Thanks, Hunk. Hey, can you hold off on telling the others for now?” Their coms had apparently been interrupted by the tractor beam. All they could talk to were each other.

“Yeah… sure… are you purple? Are you _furry_?”  
“Eh… sometimes, I guess? Moreso than my sister. Wait, it’s been ten ticks, right?”  
“I guess so. I mean, I don’t know what ticks are, but… I guess it’s time?”

They had entered the holding bay. With a fluid motion, Lance and Hunk both leapt out and threw the explosives. While they were small, they were strong, and together blasted a hole in the hull.  
“Um, sir…?” A sentry asked.  
“What?!” Sendak growled. “Can you not see that I am talking to Emperor Zarkon?!”  
“About that… his grandson just destroyed our holding bay…? He and the other lion are flying off and attacking the ship…?”

Haggar’s face loomed far too close to the camera, only showing her left eye and top left side of her face with Zarkon in the background. Sendak automatically stepped back a bit.  
“Bring me Allances and the Blue, Yellow, and Red lions unharmed. I don’t care what you do with the other Paladin.” Haggar ordered.  
“Wh… he’s attacking us!” Sendak snapped.

Haggar’s eye narrowed. “Yes. See that he’s the only one who does. Although, given that you can be prone to fits of _idiocy_ regarding me… hurt my grandson and I’ll do worse than take your arm.”  
“Vrepit Sa.” Zarkon smirked in the background.  
“Vrepit Sa.” Sendak repeated dutifully. As the connection cut, Sendak let out a wail of exasperation. “If I wanted to deal with Zarkon’s bratty descendants, I wouldn’t have turned down that job guarding Prince Lotor!”  
The sentry raised their hand timidly. “Prince Lotor doesn’t have a lion of Voltron.”

“Kurok, you’re about five doboshes away from being strangled.” Sendak raised his enormous augmented hand to illustrate his point.  
Kurok the sentry hurriedly turned away. “Yes sir, I see sir.”

Outside, Lance and Hunk were aiming at Sendak’s ion cannon together.  
“It’s covered by some kind of forcefield, we need to stop aiming for it!” Hunk exclaimed.  
Lance thought for a minute. “Forcefields aren’t one way… Hunk, aim for the barrel, it’d be the weakest point!”  
“That’s… a great point!”

Lance preened for a moment. “Thank you, I…” He could feel Red. Not _well_ , he wasn’t her Paladin, after all. But to an extent, he could feel all the lions when they were out, he’d been doing this for a while, after all. “Finally got to Red, eh Keith?”  
There was screaming on the other end.

Lance frowned. “Hunk, I’m going to take Blue down to back Red and Keith up. Can you cover the ion cannon?”  
“Yeah, sure… Doesn’t really seem like the laser is working, so I’m going to ram it.”  
Lance nodded. “Excellent plan, Hunk. Alright, Red, what’s going on?”

Blue swooped beneath the ship, eager to see her sister.  
“Aren’t you supposed to be doing something _important_?” Keith snarked, now firmly ensconced in Red.  
Blue found that Paladin rude. He could float off to God knows where next time he threw himself out.  
Red said he probably wouldn’t. There were enemy soldiers chasing him this time.  
Blue asked how exactly that proved anything except that Red Paladins were impulsive little shits.

Lance snickered.  
“What’s so funny?” Keith demanded as they flew up towards the engines and auxiliary weapons.  
“Blue acts like she’s the sweetest lion, but she’s really a lot like Grandmother in terms of how she thinks. I wouldn’t want her any other way, though.” Lance explained. “And she has a point about Red Paladins.”  
Red gave Lance the faint mental equivalent of sticking her tongue out, but she was glad to see he was back unharmed.

“She can’t talk.” Keith pointed out.  
“Well, yeah. _Obviously_. None of them can. But you can sort of hear their thoughts, and the other lions in the background. For example, Green is so excited over having a new Paladin it’s nearly making me dizzy. Red acts like she’s so tough, but really she’s the biggest sap when it comes to her Paladins. You grew on her quickly, I’m impressed.”

Myri, Keith’s predecessor, had taken weeks before the Red Lion let down her barrier. Though that may have been Myri avoiding her because of her fear of flying. Probably.

“I… we need to get the Black Lion.”  
Lance nodded. “Yeah, after we help Hunk disable the ion cannon.”  
“There’s no _time_ for that!”

Lance narrowed his eyes. “Then we’d better hurry, huh Keith? But you need Blue to open the door, or at least both me and my sister.”  
“You’d risk everything for _this_?!”  
“It’s better than risking _everything_ I have left on whether or not I’m compatible with a group of strangers.” Lance huffed. “Now _you_ look like a yelmor’s ass, Keith.”

“What do you mean, _compatible_?” Keith demanded. “For forming Voltron? We’re all Paladins, aren’t we? What does it matter?”  
“It _means_ … never mind. I don’t even know if I’m right. Just help us dislodge the ion cannon, then we’ll all fly back.”  
Pidge flew by. “What are you guys doing, let’s _go_!”  
“ _Thank you_ , Pidge!” Keith huffed.

“No, I’m with Lance on this one.” Hunk interrupted. “Taking out their primary means of killing us would be great if we don’t know if we can even form Voltron?”  
“Hunk, Lance, pull back. We _need_ the Black Lion. We can figure out an attack plan once we have it.” Shiro said, apparently from Pidge’s lion.

Lance muttered something about having his sister as a backseat Paladin. He wasn’t just going to _leave_ her down there. It didn’t even seem like the particle barrier was up, which was... troubling, to say the least.  
Blue was of the opinion that the Black Paladin was always a bossy, ‘backseat Paladin’, himself.

He and Hunk made one final hit against the ion cannon before retreating.  
In the control hub, Kurok the low-level soldier visibly winced. “Sir? The ion cannon… it’s-it’s very badly damaged.”  
“Send the drones to fix it!” Sendak growled as his mechanical eye counted the lions flying back to Arus. Somehow, those blasted Paladins had freed the Red Lion, and acquired the Green Lion. “And then aim for the castle.”

“Sir, while you are the scariest person on the ship, Haggar is scarier, so…?” Kurok trailed off.  
Sendak sighed audibly. “Kurok. Did I say _destroy_ the castle? No. I didn’t. What we’re going to do is draw the lions out, _then_ destroy the castle. And before you ask about the sister, Haggar didn’t mention her. She only mentioned Prince Allances. Therefore, the sister is fair game, and they would be unable to form Voltron because only one of them would be consumed by the grief of their family _and_ their entire civilization being gone. Unable to form Voltron, we’ll pick him up first, then fry the rest.”

“Oh, that’s _brilliant_ sir.” Kurok breathed.  
Sendak rolled his organic eye. “I _know_. That’s why I thought of it. Now, Kurok, are you applying for the position of professional butt wiper, or are you going to aim and fire the ion cannon?”

On Arus, the Black Lion had been revealed to cheers.  
“As much as I hate to end a party, Sendak’s ship is entering the atmosphere.” Coran said over the intercom.  
Allura pushed her little brother a bit towards his lion. “We need Voltron. _Now_.”  
A blast from the ion cannon rocked the ship.

“We don’t have much time. The particle barrier won’t hold us for long.” Allura said. “I’ll try to cover you where I can.”  
“That was fast.” Hunk said.  
“And now you know how _worthless_ it was to try and stay up there.” Keith pointed out.

Lance glared at Keith. “Lots of things seem worthless to you. Like washing your hair, and other basic hygienic skills!”  
“How dare—I wash my hair!”  
“Could have fooled me!”  
“Paladins! Not the time!” Shiro interrupted. “Let’s go.”

All five lions flew out of the hangar towards Sendak’s ship.  
“Listen everyone—the only way we can succeed is to give it your all. We can do this! Lance—how do we form Voltron?”  
Lance dodged a blast from the Galra ship, then flew closer. “We all have to sort of _feel_ it together as one, _while_ connecting with our lions. Once we are all in tune and want to form Voltron, Black will initiate the process.”

“I’m feeling terrified, who’s with me?” Pidge demanded as they dodged another blast.  
“Everyone stay together! They’re trying to separate us!” Shiro ordered.

On the Galra ship, Kurok was making faces at his reflection in the screen. Sendak eventually grew tired of it. “Kurok! What are you _doing_?”  
“The Paladins really, really damaged our ion cannon.” Kurok replied in a small voice. “If we fired it one more time… it wouldn’t be pretty. As in, our dust scattered across the cosmos—”  
“Kurok, _shut up_. Tractor in the Blue Lion, then electrify the rest.”

Kurok grimaced. “Sir? They destroyed the tractor beam.”  
Sendak sighed loudly. “Fine. Do whatever we can then.”

In the lions, there was a lot of screaming and cursing.  
“Lance! We _need_ more information!” Shiro yelled.  
“I’m _trying_! It-it… I’ve never fully connected before, least of all without my old team! We were just the trainees! But we _all_ need to be mentally linked, and I just--!” Lance drew a shaky breath.  
“Lance, breathe. It’s—It’s alright. It’s better that we’re all fine, instead of hurting ourselves. But listen everyone. We can do this.” Shiro said. The Black Lion’s eyes began to glow.

“We can form Voltron. We can defeat Sendak. You want to know how I know? Because the universe chose _us_ for this. Because I _know_ none of us will give up. Because we won’t let _anything_ stop us. Now, are you with me?”  
“Yeah!” The paladins yelled in unison.  
That was apparently enough for the Black Lion. She retracted her legs, and the Red and Green Lions immediately took control, retracting their own legs and connecting to Black. Blue and Yellow then formed the legs, snapping into place.

“We did it!” Lance crowed.  
“I… I can’t believe it!” Keith was grinning to himself.  
“We’re _Voltron_!” Pidge exclaimed jubilantly.  
“I’m a _leg_!” Hunk added.

“Good job, Paladins! Now, let’s finish off that cannon!” Shiro ordered.  
“They… formed Voltron.” Sendak tried to pretend that he wasn’t surprised. “No matter. Kurok! Fire at the castle. Bring down that particle barrier, then turn it to rubble! One more hit should do it!”

Kurok grimaced, but a look at Sendak told him arguing would give him a one way ticket to the arena as a gladiator. “Ready to fire.”  
As Voltron blasted closer, the ion cannon fired at the castle, destroying the particle barrier and damaging the castle.

“No!” Lance yelled. “Allura!”  
 “Focus, Lance! We can’t afford to break Voltron apart now…” Shiro trailed off as the Galra ship itself began to crack without Voltron touching it. Fragments from the ion cannon pierced the hull, and larger parts carved deep swathes that cracks sprang from. They could vaguely hear alarms and the scramble for escape pods, even there.

However, the ship itself began to crash towards Arus’ surface.  
“Should we… catch that?” Hunk asked.  
“Should we go after the pods?” Pidge added.

Shiro was quiet for a moment, before he replied, “No, I don’t think so. We’re not monsters, Pidge. The survivors shouldn’t pose a threat to us as long as we keep our wits about it. And Hunk… it doesn’t look like they’re headed towards a populated area. We should follow, but it’s in the best area for now—close enough for us to keep an eye on, but far enough where they can’t hurt anyone. Let’s head back.”

“I second that.” Lance agreed, pushing Blue into overdrive. Voltron nearly flew along limbs akimbo.  
“Whoa, whoa, Lance! Let the rest of us catch up!” Shiro ordered. “At least break apart!”  
“My sister, Coran… it’s…” Lance took a deep breath. “I _need_ to know if they’re okay. If our giant flying robot that we all _just_ found out how to fly looks like an idiot, so be it.”

“Hey, it’s cool.” Hunk said.  
“ _What_?” Keith demanded. “We _don’t_ know how to fly this, and we _don’t_ know how to break apart! Before we can land… _if_ we can land…”  
“Keith, you’re being an asshole. If my brother had been blasted like that, Voltron would be superman-ing it over there right now.” Pidge snapped. “Don’t think we didn’t hear you guys arguing about the cannon either. I’m pretty sure it’s only because of Lance and Hunk we didn’t have to do anything.”

“Aw, thanks Pidge!” Hunk grinned as they landed. “Uh… how do we get out of this?”  
“Same way we got in, I guess?” Lance said. “One… two… three…” The lions went along with it and collapsed. Blue spat Lance out, and once again, he ran ahead.

“Good job, Paladins!” Coran greeted them. “It’s good that you know how to form Voltron, because you’ll have to do it on the turn of a valvium ingot… except round! The Galra wait for no one!”  
Everyone looked green.  
Lance frantically looked around the room. “Allura?”  
Coran waved his hand. “She’s fine, don’t worry. Some debris knocked her unconscious, so I moved her to a healing pod. So, paladins! Why don’t you follow me to your bedrooms? These will be temporary, of course, while we clean out your real rooms. Until then, you’ll be in the soldiers’ barracks!”

Coran and Lance led the way to the untouched dormitories.  
“Is Allura going to be okay?” Lance whispered conspiratorially.  
“Yes. I mostly put her in there in case the castle fell as a precaution.” Coran whispered back. “Erm… she should be out soon. Please don’t tell her where I am when it happens.”  
“You got it, Coran.” Lance gave him finger guns.

Coran showed each Paladin their room, and hurried away. All of them were sparse, with a bed and a hook for their coats, with an identical blue and white colour scheme. All five Paladins fell asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Get ready for some LANGST in the future! 
> 
> Also Mrs Holt being a badass


	3. We're in this for a while folks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some light Langst for your enjoyment and future development. (And Shiro angst! Just a little though)

Alarms blared in every corner of the castle.  
“Everyone up! Zarkon is attacking us _right now_!” Allura yelled into the intercom. “Up, up, up! Get to your lions!

Shiro was already awake. It wasn’t that he wasn’t tired, he was exhausted. But every four hours or so into his sleep cycle, the nightmares would set in. The images would remain no matter what he did, preventing sleep. Last night featured Katie and Keith being destroyed by a Galra warship. The armor made him feel safer, and it grounded him. So, when Allura called them, he was the first one out.

If you asked him, he’d say that he wanted to make a good impression on his new teammates. Deeper probing would reveal that Takashi Shirogane specifically liked strong women. His first crush was on Suzanne di Marco in kindergarten, which came only after she straight up punched Alex Grumb for trying to force-feed her worms. Not that he would admit that he had feelings for Allura—he had just met her, and she was a _princess_ , especially one who had just lost everything. Maybe a lover too.

Takashi Shirogane was many things, not all of them particularly nice, but he would _not_ take advantage of someone vulnerable. Of course, while he was musing about this, and exercising to distract himself from the nightmares ( _he could still see Keith’s faces being melted as he screamed and screamed and oh god what kind of brother was he to take Keith to the Galra???)_ alarms began blaring, and Allura announced the impending attack over the intercom.

Hunk, Pidge, and Keith were all exhausted. They had gotten very little sleep before this whole lion thing, and were mildly upset to be woken up. However, they all made their way to the control room as fast as possible.  
“Oh no! Allura’s lost her head!” Coran wailed into the intercom.

Shiro was the first one there, followed by Keith (on account of him wearing _shoes_ to _bed_ like a _barbarian_ ) then Hunk and Pidge arrived in tandem.  
“Look at you, Shiro’s the only one in armor!” Allura hissed. “Where are your bayards? _Where is my brother_?!”  
“Maybe he’s in the Blue Lion?” Coran asked. “Ready to attack?”

As if on cue, there was a large boom. Lance dropped down from the ceiling into a crouch, in full armor, bayard transformed into a gun and raised. He lowered it when he saw his sister. “You’re still alive?”  
Slowly, everyone looked up at the ceiling. A vent was slowly swinging, still apparently reeling from the momentum Lance had used to break it. Everyone then looked back at Lance, who had stood, retracted his bayard, and joined the other paladins.

“… _why_?” Allura finally asked.  
Coran brightened. “I can answer that! Tavrotine was very big on espionage training. Lance reacted the way he was trained. My question is, why didn’t you go for the lion first?”    
“Blue said neither she nor the others felt the castle were under attack. So, it was likely a small group of insurgents inside the castle. Blue connected with the castle and only found life signs here, so…” Lance shrugged nonchalantly. “If you’d all been dead, I would have opened the hangar, told Blue to take the others out, and blown up the castle.”

Everyone slowly looked at Allura.  
“Is… is that what we were supposed to do?” Hunk asked. “Is that the right answer? Always be prepared and jump out of vents?”  
Lance grinned. “I could show you guys if you want. It’s kind of fun.”

Allura glared at him. “It’s not supposed to be _fun_. It’s a _war_. And if this was real, you’re saying you would blow up _everything_ that’s left of Altea? Because you and your teammates would _certainly_ be dead, given how long you took.”  
Lance winced, then frowned at his sister. “I timed it. That was my best time except for the time Tavrotine literally chased me with a gun around the vent systems. We’re not perfect, but we’re trying.”

“Trying doesn’t mean anything if the end result is that you’re still dead!” Allura huffed.  
“Oh, _come off it_ , Allura! You haven’t seen anything of Paladin training, you were always back home on Altea! At best, you saw the exercises the original Paladins ran, which were nothing like this! You have _no_ frame of reference for this!”  
The other paladins began to feel a bit awkward, as one does when siblings fight in front of them.  
Coran cleared his throat. “Allura, Allances…”  
“Except, I _do_ know that we have to be much better! The original paladins all _died_ , Allances, including our father! The stakes are much higher than they’ve ever been for Voltron.” Allura growled.

Lance shook his head. “That doesn’t mean that you know _anything_ about Paladin training. You were raised to be the diplomat, I wasn’t. I’m not saying I’m the greatest Paladin to ever live, but I am saying that you’re going about this the wrong way.”  
Allura ground her teeth. “Then what is the right way? How do I make sure that you’re all sufficiently trained for a _war_ like this? Because yes Lance. It’s going to be hard. I’m going to reforge each and every one of you into the _best_ Paladins has ever seen. You want to know why? Why I’m going to be harder on you than Tavrotine or… than the original Black Paladin? Why _I_ am stepping into this? Because I’ll be damned if I lose a single one of you.”

Allura cast an eye over them. “And keeping you alive _as is_ will be hard enough.”  
“Wow, okay, that’s kind of rude?” Hunk said. “Like, I know that we’re not on our A-Game, but… what day is it?”  
“The third quintant of the Spicolian movement. Hump day!” Coran interjected brightly.  
“Right… Pidge?” Hunk tried.  
“It’s Wednesday, March 17th.” Pidge replied. “We got here on Monday.”

“Okay, thank you Pidge. Human beings need more sleep than we’ve been getting so far to be fully functional.” Hunk explained.  
Allura scowled. “ _Sleep_? You think Zarkon is going to wait for you to _sleep_?”  
Lance frowned back at her. “Leave the humans alone, Allura. We don’t wait to die either, and part of that means not falling asleep in our lions while Zarkon circles around and attacks us.”

Allura pulled up a map of the stars, covered in blue dots. . “Every planet in blue above sent out a distress signal to the castle over the last ten thousand years. It is our working theory that each one represents a time when the Galra conquered them. It is inevitable that the Galra will eventually reach Earth. We will free every single one of those planets and destroy Zarkon.”  
Coran and Lance shared a look. Then Coran stepped in. “While the princess and I ready the castle for departure, you five should learn how to form Voltron and work as a team!”

“I agree, let’s start training.” Shiro nodded.  
Pidge scowled. “What about those prisoners we rescued? I need to talk to them.”  
“Prisoners? What prisoners?” Lance asked.  
“We picked up a few Galra prisoners, and a droid while Keith got the Red Lion.” Shiro smiled proudly at Keith.  
“Indeed, Number one! I’ve ranked you all by height.” Coran explained. “And those prisoners are currently ensconced in the pods, happy as yelmors with a klimowak bone! Now get out there and do some defending of the universe… er… _legendary_ defending!”

They tried flying in formation for a bit. That didn’t work. Keith suggested they stack Voltron from the ground up. Blue laughed so hard she nearly ejected Lance, and he could hear the other lions snickering (except for Red).  
“Lance, what’s up?” Shiro asked. “Why is the Blue Lion freaking out like that?”  
He could hear Red pouting. In her mind, her paladin could be excused—he was young. He was new.  
Blue, much louder to Lance, pointed out that Red Paladins weren’t known for their intelligence, but this was the stupidest thing she’d heard from one yet.

Of course, that pissed Red off _immensely_. Lance pulled Blue back under control and stacked her underneath the rest, but tension was bubbling. Red held grudges. And the minute her claws raked Blue’s back, Blue roared. They waited just long enough for Black to go on top, proving Keith’s theory wrong, then Blue shot out from under them.  
“Lance! Get her under control!” Shiro ordered.  
“ _Me_? Tell Keith to get _Red_ under control! Look at these gashes!” Lance manoeuvred Blue so that the scratches were visible.

“Keith…” Shiro sounded extremely tired. “ _Why_ does Blue look like she won a fight with a paper shredder?”  
“I don’t know! The scratches were probably already there!” Keith hissed. “Lance is just trying to push the blame off onto me!”  
“No, I’m trying to push the blame off onto _Red_. There’s a difference. Red got pissed at Blue because of a joke that Blue made. Fine. We’re _sorry_. But when the claws come out into my girl, that’s when it needs to stop.”

“Because of… a joke… Blue made.” Shiro repeated.  
“He thinks he can hear the lions in his head.” Keith exclaimed, sounding somewhat derogatory. Quiznaking Keith, man.  
“Oh no, Keith. It’s not like Lance has been a Paladin longer than anyone else alive.” Pidge snorted back. “ _Including_ his time in the cryopod. It’s not like these are _magical alien space robot lions_.”  
“Keith, Pidge, Lance… guys, just reel it in. Someone’s going to get hurt.” Hunk pointed out. “Maybe we could try it again, with me on top?”

“But you’re a leg.” Keith pointed out bluntly. “You even yelled, ‘I’m a leg’, yesterday.”  
“What—always?” Hunk asked.  
“Well, unless Shiro disappears. Then you’re my bet for Black Paladin.” Pidge replied.

Allura came onto the com, and sounded somewhat evilly gleeful. Lance’s hands tightened on the controls with stress that only came from siblings trying to quiznak your snart up.  
“Paladins, since nothing seems to be working so far… Coran and I were thinking we could smack two _diblungs_ at once and test the castle defense systems. Of course, this could also mimic the battle conditions that helped you form yesterday.”

Shiro screamed (a very _masculine_ scream, mind you) as the rockets sped towards him. “Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa! _Allura_!”  
“I believe in you, Paladins! Let fear be your guide!” Allura said grandly. Lance could just picture her making a grand swooping gesture. Coran was probably in the background being her hype man.  
Lance tried to turn back to the castle, only to have a missile explode in his face. Well, Blue’s face.

She didn’t take kindly to it, and ran back to her sisters. Black thought they should split up so that they could make smaller targets. Green thought that they should just suck it up and form Voltron, and did anyone ever listen to _them_? No. Blue and Red were still pissed at one another, and neither was willing to form Voltron. Yellow suggested they use this time to practice evasive maneuvers. She always had problems with those.

Of course, the majestic and noble lions were piloted by screaming, panicking, tiny meatbags, who were not planning anything at all, and their dominant emotion was fear.  
Green pointed out that they were all aligned in thought. Black nearly cuffed her. Eventually, every lion slipped in when the castle defenses finally died down.  
“Okay, remember your stealth training.” Shiro breathed. “If the princess or Coran find us…”  
“She can’t actually hurt us, right?” Hunk whispered.

“Never underestimate an Altean trying to motivate others.” Lance whispered back. “Remember that gun incident I mentioned? That thing was fully loaded and he was a really good shot.”  
“Coran mentioned something about mice yesterday.” Keith added, just as quietly. “Keep an eye out for them too.”  
“Why don’t we just go into the vents like Lance did this morning?” Pidge suggested. “He knows where to go.”

“We’d have to go in shifts so Allura and Coran didn’t get too suspicious about the noise…” Lance mused. “But yeah, that’d work. And if we get caught, just sell Keith out.”  
“Hey!” Keith hissed. “ _You_ are her brother!”  
“And she wants to have tea with _you_.” Lance grinned back.

“Paladins! Focus.” Shiro ordered. “No one is selling anyone out. We all go down together.”  
Lance looked somewhat pleased. “Right. Alright, me first, I guess…” He removed a panel the other paladins hadn’t even realized was a vent, shape-shifting slightly to be slightly flatter and taller, then was about to go inside when Allura entered the room. The Paladins froze, and for a minute, so did Allura.

Then she smiled. “You formed Voltron! I am so proud of you all!”  
Lance’s eyes widened and he returned to his earlier form, albeit paler, almost as though he was trying to blend in with the wall.  
“Y-yes… that is exactly what happened, haha!” Hunk fidgeted. “Surprise!”  
Out of the corners of their eyes, the Paladins could see Shiro was about to crack. The man had apparently never successfully told a lie in his life. His spine was made of integrity, and his mind was made of certainty that the princess would never consider him romantically if he lied. Actually, given his state of panic… perhaps it would be more accurate to say that something else was made of this certainty. Potentially his foot.

Regardless of sole-threatening issues, Shiro blurted out, “We didn’t actually form Voltron, we just flew in when the castle defenses dropped!”  
“You’re dead to me.” Pidge hissed.  
“Scatter!” Keith yelled.

Allura raised an eyebrow as the Paladins ran about futilely, blocking the door. “That doesn’t work if there’s only one exit and I’m in front of it. Wait—did you _not_ form Voltron? How did you get inside?”  
“We flew in when the castle defenses dropped.” Lance repeated.  
Coran ran up, then slid to a stop. “Princess, _please_ don’t get into another fight with your brother! It’s bad for team morale!”

“Did you run here from the other side of the castle?” Allura asked, quirking an eyebrow.  
“Yes, as a matter of fact, I did!” Coran said. “But even if Voltron training didn’t necessarily work out, training side by side might help them strengthen their bonds!”  
Lance very visibly winced.  
“Ah, I know you’re excited to get back in the training room, Lance!” Coran swept him into a one-armed hug. “Working together has always made the Paladins—and the trainees, haven’t forgotten you—as close as a pack of yelmors tightly joined at the ears!”

As Coran, Allura, and the traitorous Shiro (constrained by the bounds of a really big crush, and therefore not entirely useful) ushered the four younger paladins towards the training room, Keith voiced what they were all thinking. “What the quiznak is a yelmor?”

Lance opened his mouth to say something, but this mystery being solved was waylaid by their arrival.  
Allura and Coran disappeared to the control booth. As soon as the Paladins were all inside, a gladiator bot appeared out of nowhere. “Greetings, Paladins. Would you like to hear what you need to improve on?”  
“Sure…?” Hunk said.  
The bot whirred, and a hologram was projected of an Altean’s silhouette in black armor. “Black Paladin, we found that last time you needed to work on your maneuverability.” It changed to another silhouette, this one in green armor, then yellow, then red, then blue. “Green Paladin, we found that last time you needed to work on your aim. Yellow Paladin, we found that last time you needed to work on your spacing compared to your fellow paladins. Red Paladin, we found that last time you needed to work on your arm strength. Blue Paladin, we found that last time you needed to work on your speed. We will adjust accordingly.”

“Cancel that.” Allura ordered over the intercom. “Initiate projectile training. Paladins, shields up. Get in a circle. Protect each other—if one falls, that’s another weakness in your shield.”  
“What happens if we get hit?” Hunk asked nervously.  
“That’s not going to happen, now is it?” Allura asked. “Initiate sequence.” The Paladins barely had time to figure out (and pull up) their shields before tiny robots came whizzing out.

After they ‘failed’ that one, and Keith’s bad directions led Lance to realize exactly which maze he was in and complete it solely because he had memorized it, Allura put them back in the lions, blindfolded.  
“Oh, come on! Lance has the advantage here!” Keith huffed.

“Don’t worry about him, focus on Red!” Coran advised. “And… go!”  
The five paladins flew up as high as they could without breaking Arus’ atmosphere. Then they tipped into a nosedive in synchronization.  
Hunk pulled away first, then Pidge.

“Getting scared, Keith?” Lance asked.  
“Nope. Red and I are close. What about you?” Keith asked nonchalantly.  
“Even better, in fact, I’m speeding up!” Lance hissed.

“So am I!” Keith replied.  
“It’s not a race…” Shiro sighed in the background. They both ignored him.  
“Must be getting close.” Lance said.  
“Must be.” Keith agreed.

“Still not scared?”  
“You know it.”  
The Blue Lion chose this moment to say that both she and her sister were about ten ticks from falling into a sand dune and if she got sand in her circuits she’d be very displeased.  
“Keith, pull up!” Lance called out, pulling Blue up himself and letting her tell him where to go. “Seriously!”

Keith must have hesitated, because Red’s feet grazed the ground, throwing her off a little.  
Lance couldn’t _see_ through Blue’s eyes yet though, and that was the issue. He could _hear_ Blue, but it was like a blind man being told where to walk, much like the stupid invisible maze. He took off his helmet and set it on the ground so that the others wouldn’t hear him or interfere.

Blue hesitated for a moment, before saying that she wasn’t the sort to bond on the battlefield. Lance had always been good about talking to her, and that was really how he’d gotten so far after nearly five decafeebs, not to mention the ten thousand that they had been in stasis, but they needed water for them to truly bond.

Black could forge a bond falling through the sky, blood and pistons pumping in mutual exhilaration. Red could bond more or less the more time she spent with her paladin. Green bonded over her paladin being clever and slowly updating her. Yellow bonded with talking. But Blue and her paladin needed to be completely alone, in Blue’s element, slowly sharing. Blue knew it was specific. Blue knew there was a war going on. But Blue honestly was a bit scared of ever going through what Black did with Zarkon, and she honestly could feel Lance’s doubt like cold seeping through his bones.

If she was being honest, she didn’t think the doubt over their place in Voltron was entirely on the Paladin side.  
“Blue, _no_. You’re the best lion!” Lance fussed. “You’re smart, funny, and generally amazing! Who cares if you’re a little cold—” he paused to laugh at his own joke. “It just gives you more personality, and makes me want to rise to meet your standards!”  
But Blue was one of five lions. She wasn’t a great flier like Red, or a leader like Black. She wasn’t as large as Yellow or as advanced as Green.

“But you have the best spirit!” Lance protested.  
Blue very pointedly thought of Yellow, the heart of Voltron.  
“You’re not useless, you’re there in case of medical evacuation.” Lance tried. “And you have your own powers! Yellow or Red couldn’t put someone in cryosis like you could _and_ your sonar is a million times better than Green’s advances!”  
Blue pointed out that she had been given a cryopod likely to get her out of the way, just like she’d gotten a small teludav in her snout.

“ _So_? Blue, so many people would be dead without you. You can kill or save, you can get us out of anywhere… you are worth more than all the other lions put together.” Lance said as he ceded control.  
Blue flew them to the nearest body of water that would fit them, and submerged herself. Finally, she said that there was a reason her quintessence matched Lance’s so exactly, down to his insecurities, only heightened by Black’s last idiot paladin. So she wasn’t the best lion, but he was the best paladin. Ever. So there.

“Maybe we could be each other’s best.” Lance tried. “And… we could tell each other about this so no one else has to worry, but we don’t have to feel so alone.”  
Blue agreed.  
Lance picked up his helmet again.

“—can’t find him!” Hunk yelled.  
“He is still on Arus, I’m sending you all his coordinates now.” Allura said.  
“Whatcha talkin’ about?” Lance said.

Everyone yelled his name at the same time, causing serious feedback. Lance’s Altean ears rang, and Blue growled, sending bubbles through the water.  
“It is just like you to skiv off training.” Allura said disapprovingly.  
“Are you in trouble?” Shiro asked.

“No, and no. I was bonding with my lion, which was the whole point of the flying thing. Did anyone else succeed besides me and Keith?”  
“I did.” Shiro said. Neither Blue nor Lance were surprised. “But since Keith got his warning from you, I’m not sure if it counts as a victory.”  
“We’re a team. We have each other’s backs.” Lance replied. “That’s the whole point. Anyway, Blue and I are on our way back. What’s next?”

“Mind-melding!” Coran exclaimed proudly.  
Lance stifled a groan. “On my way.”  
Mind-melding was about trusting each other and letting down your walls. Lance had never been particularly good at it, and he wasn’t about to start by letting strangers into his head.

He parked Blue in the hangars, and joined the others on the training deck. The minute he put on the headgear, he threw up his walls. After a minute to think, he reinforced them a bit on Shiro’s side. Tavrotine had never respected the walls, and he didn’t want _anyone_ where he couldn’t control what they saw of him in his own mind without his permission again.

He placed a memory of watching the sunset with Myri outside so that no one would be suspicious of him apparently having a completely blank mind. Pidge had some image with what looked like another version of them with long hair. Lance stared at it for a minute.

“Do… does your species not have different appearance traits? Are you all different species?” Lance asked.  
Hunk snorted. “Yeah, Pidge here is a gremlin.”  
Pidge swatted at him.

“Why do you ask?” Keith probed gently towards Lance’s mind, but ran short at the walls. He frowned, realizing something was blocking him.  
“Because Pidge’s memory features _two_ Pidges.” Lance cocked his head. “Though I suppose it makes sense if Pidge is not a human, perhaps their species all looks very similar to our eyes.”

Pidge’s eye twitched. “I’m not going to talk about this. Besides, if I’m a gremlin, Keith is part Mothman.”  
“Don’t take the name of Mothman in vain!” Keith squawked.  
“You guys are going to confuse Lance, Allura, and Coran with your conspiracy theories.” Shiro pointed out. “Keith is not a Mothman, he is just obsessed with it.”  
“Do not call Mothman an _it_.” Keith hissed. “And there is only one!”

“Sooo… are we going to talk about Pidge’s girlfriend? Because they’ve never mentioned a sister, only vaguely a brother.” Hunk said.  
“Stop rooting around my head!” Pidge ordered.  
“Whoa, sorry. You can root around mine.”

“You should all be able to root around each other’s heads!” Coran said over the intercom.  
“Lance won’t let us in!” Keith hissed.  
“Lance, you’re meant to form a relationship with your fellow paladins.” Allura huffed over the intercom.  
Lance crossed his arms. “I will form a relationship with them. That does _not_ mean that this group of near strangers is allowed to go rooting through my darkest secrets. Trust me, every single one of us had our walls up after the first few times we did this exercise, and it always went much smoother that way.”

Shiro frowned. “I trust Allura’s judgment here.”  
Lance took a deep breath. “Of course you do.” He dropped his walls, pushing some of his worst memories to the front.  
_Watching Altea burn as he flew away in the Blue Lion helplessly--_  
_A body wrapped in a golden-white shroud slowly being cremated the Altean way, crushing misery closing on him--_  
 _A sharp sneer. “Listen you worthless halfbreed—”_  
 _Allura’s voice shook. “We can’t look like **this** anymore Allances, we need to look like normal Alteans!”_  
 _That sharp sneer again. “Al only knows you got here through your family connections, and **she** only got here by virtue of being your concubine—”_  
 _Adults rushing by in a flurry, supporting two forms. Blood was on the floor--_  
 _A heart-wrenching wail from the hangar--_  
Lance finally decided on a memory he’d share completely.

 _His father took a deep breath. “Lance, we still don’t know why the Blue Lion chose you. It could have very easily been a mistake.”_  
_“Does Voltron make mistakes?” Lance asked._  
 _“…sometimes.” Alfor admitted. “And Blue has always had a… sense of humor. She could have chosen you simply to mess with Red.”_  
 _Lance felt cold. “Is… is that really why…?”_  
 _Alfor sighed. “I honestly don’t know, Lance. Hreth is asking her as we speak. Red and Black aren’t exactly happy about it, and I can’t say I am either. Voltron is the strongest warrior in the universe. You… you simply cannot handle being a Paladin.”_

_“What else would I do?” Lance asked. “I’m not… I’m only the spare in case something happens to Allura!”_   
_"You are more than that, Lance.” Alfor said quietly._   
_“Like what?” Lance demanded. “I’m not a diplomat, Father. I can get by, but I’m not gifted in it. I can barely learn other languages! I’m not a warrior, my shooting will never compare to Mother’s, and I cannot even be taken seriously when a Lion of Voltron chooses **me**! I’m not a politician! I am not a merchant! I’m not a minstrel, I’m not an artist, I’m not an author! What **am** I, Father? Who am I?”_

_“You’re my son.” Alfor said, not unkindly.  
Lance gave him a long look. “Yes. I am. But Allura’s always going to be your favorite, isn’t she? Why aren’t I enough? If Allura had been chosen, you would have immediately cheered and proclaimed her the best Paladin alive—even if it would have meant I would have to be King. You never would have hesitated, and asked the Lions if it was a mistake in front of **everyone**. You never would have conferred with the other Paladins and called herin here and asked Blue to choose again.” _

_“You’re still young, Allances. You barely have so much ahead of you.” Alfor said. “You are not able to be a Paladin yet.”_  
_Lance drew a shaky breath. “I have to go, Father. Grandfather wishes to celebrate. Mother hinted that we’d go to Galaris as a special treat, but I think it’s to get me away from the whispers here. Whispers that King Alfor’s youngest is nothing but an incompetent buffoon unable to do anything.” Lance wiped his eyes, then stared his father down. “Grandfather Alvaris would have been proud of who you are.”_  
 _Alfor flinched as if struck, while Lance left the room, wiping his eyes again._

 _Allura, much younger, was waiting outside. “That was a very awful thing you just said to Father— where are you going?!”_  
Lance pulled out of the memory abruptly. His teammates had barely skimmed it, that was clear, but they still got the gist of the other memories. Apparently they’d pulled back by then, but the damage was done. The snippets alone were enough, the gist of the conversation with his father was unnecessary.

Honestly, Lance was a little impressed. Tavrotine immediately dove into that memory and pulled it, kicking and screaming, to the front of Lance’s mind where he showed everybody. Still, the humans (and the gremlin) were staring at him now.  
He crossed his arms. “So, did we or did we not form Voltron yesterday without you all intimately knowing my history?”

“Lance, I really think we should talk about this. It could have led to some deep-rooted insecurity.” Shiro tried.  
Lance waved him off. “I’m _fine_. That was ten thousand and five decafeebs ago. Adolescence is a tumultuous time for Altean youths, and I was no different.”  
Shiro frowned, but didn’t press it.  
“Since Lance pointed out that we don’t need to know the _private_ details of each other’s lives, leave my memory alone!” Pidge growled, before storming out.  
Lance resisted the urge to tell them all that he told them so, and rose after Pidge.

They were running back to the barracks, crying. Quiznak.  
Lance followed and knocked on their door.  
“Fuck off!” Pidge yelled, tears clearly affecting their voice.  
Lance opened the door anyway, not knowing what a ‘fuck’ was.

Pidge was hugging a pillow and sitting on their bed. “What do you want?”  
Lance hovered in the doorway. “So… what’s your favorite colour?”  
“What?” Pidge asked, staring at him.  
Lance sat down next to them on the bed. “You saw _part_ of my worst memories. For some of them, particularly the ones where Tavrotine had crossed a boundary, my friend Myri would distract me. But I don’t know anything about you. Wait—can your species not see colour?”

Pidge rolled their eyes. “I can see colour just fine. Who’s Myri?” Pidge immediately regretted this, remembering that Myri was probably dead, but Lance didn’t seem to mind.  
“She was the most beautiful girl in the universe. She fought like her life depended on it, and was the bravest person I have ever known. She was terrified of flying. Did you know that when the Red Lion landed and chose her, she thought it was attacking her?” Lance gave a little laugh. “She was clever too. I guess she had to be, practically raising herself and her sisters after their clutch hatched with no parents, but she was not a typical Red Paladin.”

“Did you love her?” Pidge asked.  
Lance gave a little smile. “I guess so. I never really thought about it like that. It wasn’t some great, passionate thing like my parents or grandparents, or Coran and his husband, she was just Myri. …so, what about your fellow gremlin, if I may ask?”  
“That was my brother.” Pidge hugged their pillow tighter, glancing at Lance. “He’s… missing.”  
He blinked, tucking this information away for later. “Wow, you too look incredibly similar, down to the eyes.”

“Yeah, siblings often do.” At least he wasn’t talking about the ‘missing’ part.  
Lance shrugged, then his body rippled and shifted. His skin darkened, his hair became longer and curled, and his eyes became a bit more pink and sparkly. His bone structure shifted a tiny bit, and he smiled at Pidge, who jerked in surprise. That was a damn near perfect Allura, or male equivalent, and Lance could _shapeshift_?

“Yeah, I see what you mean.” He snickered. “We’re nearly identical.”  
Pidge hit him gently with her pillow. “Don’t be rude. How can you do that?”  
“This? Shift? All Alteans can do it.” Lance said in surprise. “I’ve always been better at it than Allura. She tends to stay in one form, and it isn’t even our natural state, so it stiffens her a little bit. I um… I shift a lot in my sleep by accident.”

“What, like _snoring_?” Pidge asked.  
Lance looked confused. “What is a snoing?”  
“ _Snoring_. You know, like…” Pidge made a variety of snoring noises, which only caused Lance to become more and more confused. “Your species is _so_ bizarre.” He laughed.

The door slid open at a frightening speed, and Allura marched in. “What, exactly, are you doing? We’re going back to training.”  
“I was comforting Pidge.” Lance picked Pidge up easily on their waist for emphasis, drawing a surprised noise from Pidge.  
Allura frowned, and Lance followed her out of the room, Pidge tucked under his arm like they weighed nothing. After trying to scrabble away for a minute, Pidge gave up and let Lance carry them.

“So what are we doing now?” Lance asked.  
“You have lazed about for far too long.” Allura huffed. “It’s time you faced the Gladiator.”  
Lance looked at Pidge, who got the distinct feeling he was considering running the other way.

Far off in the hills of Arus, the remaining Galra were trying to make a plan.  
“Does anybody have any ideas?” Sendak sighed.  
Kurok raised his hand enthusiastically.  
Sendak very slowly counted to the Galran equivalent of ten. “Does anybody have any ideas that do not involve Commander Haxus dressing up like a female, and…” he trailed off to read the scrawl on a leaf in front of him. “’Engaging in a flirtatious dance to attempt to seduce all of the Paladins’?”

Haxus shot Kurok a glare, and was rewarded with a genuine smile.  
“I am not some Paladin’s prostitute!” Haxus hissed.  
“I never said you’d have to engage in sexual congress with them.” Kurok pointed out. “I only said you’d have to get them to take off their armor, then grab all of it and run.”  
“Why don’t _you_ do it then?” Haxus sneered.

“ _You_ have the best figure.” Kurok pointed out.  
“That is true, Haxus. You do have the most beautiful body out of all of the survivors.” Sendak said.  
Haxus’ ears sprang up, the Galran equivalent of a blush. “S-sir!”  
“Don’t act coy, Haxus. It’s unseemly for a soldier of your rank.” Sendak tapped his natural fingers. “Hmm… if only my beloved Alrya was here. She would be the absolute _best_ at seducing Paladins.”

“Sir.” Haxus’ ears drooped.  
“But enough of that—Kurok, you had your hand up the whole time. What is it?”  
“What if we surrendered ourselves to the Paladins, and later broke out?” Kurok asked gleefully.  
“How would we escape?” Haxus demanded.  
“Because it’s you, Kurok, I am inclined to not do so.” Sendak added. “Besides, Haxus raises a legitimate point. It would be the same as surrendering, which we do _not_ do. Succeed or die.”

Kurok shrugged. “Ye- _es_ , but what if we _did_? Voltron is obviously far too powerful for us. They destroyed us when we were an entire battlecruiser, now we are simply three Galrans, and several damaged sentries. The only one of us who can really hurt them is you, sir.”  
Sendak stood, and stared out of the foliage at the distant castle. “We will _not_ give up. Our Emperor, hallowed be his name, has tasked us with returning his two errant grandchildren.”

“They’re _Alteans_!” Haxus hissed. “They could die at any moment!”  
“Actually, the Alteans were a skilled warrior race that was a threat to Galaris according to Mergth the Wise.” Kurok recited. “It was only due to superior planning that we destroyed them before they could destroy us.”  
Haxus gave him an incredibly unimpressed look. “ _Those_ were the finest warriors in the galaxy?”  
“How and why would they create Voltron otherwise?” Kurok asked.

The Paladins were not doing well against the Gladiator. Lance was trying to predict what it was doing and was generally pretty good at it, but had to stop and start again constantly when one of the other Paladins got in his way. Individually, _all_ of the Paladins were technically fine. But as a team, they were out of synchronization.

Allura was furious.  
“What in the name of all seven Hells and all nine Heavens were you _doing_ out there?!” She growled. She whipped around to face her brother. “I understand the others, some of them have probably never held a weapon before, but _you_? You _were_ in training to be a Paladin of Voltron! You landed _six shots_ on the Gladiator! What, did everything you learned over 49 feebs in this castle leak out of your ears after 10,000 decafeebs? Were you _always_ this feeble and incompetent, or is this a recent development?!”

Lance took a deep breath, and resisted the urge to break down and sob. Allura had always been _incredibly_ driven, and had always had an issue with the feelings of people around her when trying to reach her goal. It was a family joke that she should have been chosen as a Paladin, because she was practically the stereotype of a Red Paladin like their father.  
Lance quznacking _hated_ those jokes.

“Allura, we’re _all_ out of practice.” Shiro soothed.  
“Thank you for growing a spine.” Keith scoffed. “The fact of the matter is, most of us have never fought side by side like this before. Even Hunk, Pidge, and I were never together for combat training. The closest we came is Shiro and I as kids, and even then I nearly ran into him three times.”  
Lance’s ears were tingling. _Keith_ was standing up for him? …why couldn’t he stand up for himself?

Allura narrowed her eyes at Keith. “Are you _really_ in any position to question me, Paladin? I am well aware of these… difficulties. That level was fit for an Altean child, nearly a babe in arms. I myself defeated it at less than three decafeebs of age. It was practically strolling through all of you, giving the gentle whacks of a reluctant nursemaid. _Yet_ , five Paladins in the prime of their lives with full weapons, some of whom were supposedly trained, could not defeat it.”

She then rolled her eyes. “Go on, then. Coran has spent time and effort on a meal for all of you. In my opinion, all you deserve is goo, but what he does is his own decision.”  
One of Coran’s decisions apparently included locking their wrists together so they could feed one another and earn each other’s trust.  
“Why couldn’t we just do trust falls.” Shiro sighed as Pidge accidentally knocked food in his face.

Lance took a deep breath as Keith spooned food into his cheek. At this rate, he’d have to reset his translator implants again. Not that it would keep his sister out. If anything, all he’d be able to understand was her complaining about him. No thank you.  
“This is such a waste.” Hunk huffed. “And I do _not_ feel any closer to Lance, no offense buddy.”

“None taken.” Lance answered. “I feel the same way, which is how you know my sister once again failed.”  
“This was Coran’s idea, and if you would show actual progress, I might be more forgiving.” Allura delicately sipped her soup.

“Okay, that is _it_. You’ve been nasty to all of us today, and it needs to _stop_.” Pidge snapped. “We’re not your little dolls, and we’re not your prisoners!”  
“Yeah! If we’re going to fight for you, you might as well treat us _decently_.” Keith added.  
“In case you haven’t noticed, we’re in the middle of a war. And if anything, you should be treating _me_ with more respect.” Allura said.  
“Oh, for _what_?” Lance demanded. “You’re not a princess anymore, Allura! One advisor and a brother does not constitute a large enough kingdom for you to rule!”

Allura moved so quickly they didn’t even see her do it. But everyone saw the food slowly dripping down Lance’s face.  
“Allura, you’re playing a very dangerous game.” Lance said softly. Then he gave an enormous grin. “I have _always_ had better aim than you, and I have four allies. Five if Coran gives in and joins me.”  
The other Paladins grinned as well, eager for a chance at payback. Within minutes, food was flying across the room. Allura was splattered within seconds from head to toe.

Coran valiantly tried to defend her with a tray, but where one Paladin would aim at him, another would have an opening.  
“Enough!” Allura yelled, wiping food off of her face and revealing a broad smile. “You’re all working as one, don’t you see?”  
The Paladins stopped, then smiled as well.  
“Team, let’s go form Voltron.” Shiro smiled.

Coran snapped off the cuffs that had encircled them, and the Paladins began to file out. Allura stopped Lance. “Allances… I realize I was harder on you today than you merited. You are a very good Paladin, and I am glad that you are here to help teach the others. You… were right when you said that I didn’t know how to train them.”  
Lance blinked in surprise, then enveloped her in a hug. “No. You were right. You got us to work together, after all.” Then he pulled away. “I have to go, y’know, Voltron calls.”

A few minutes later, Allura smirked at Coran. “I told you I could do it.”  
Coran shrugged. “I suppose that old proverb was true; ‘a man can be driven to do anything if a beautiful woman is really, really mean to him’. It sort of applies to your brother, I’m not really sure about the gender of the others. But regardless… thank you for apologizing to him. I know he’s hurting just as much as us, maybe even more.”

“What do you mean?” Allura asked.  
“We lived here, Allura. So he has the pain I have about losing the Paladins and the trainees and everyone from his way of life, as well as Altea, and your pain regarding Zarkon. He’s… he’s sleeping in his old room, and the security cameras caught him taking comfort items from your father’s old room, as well as Zarkon’s, Hreth’s, and the trainee Red Paladin’s.”  
“What?” Allura demanded. “He was stealing?”

Coran fixed her with an unimpressed look. “Stealing from the dead is usually referred to as graverobbing, which he definitely wasn’t. You’re welcome to all the rooms as well, the poor boy likely just wants some comfort. I certainly did _not_ tell you this for you to use it against him.”  
“Still, _Zarkon’s_ room?” Allura breathed. “What did he want there?”  
Coran sighed. “From what the cameras picked up, pictures mostly. During his time as Black Paladin, your grandfather’s room was full of pictures of his family. You may not think of it this way, but when Altea burned, you also lost your maternal side of your family.”

“…do you think he’d share?” Allura said quietly.  
Coran smiled softly. “Of course, princess.”


	4. For something the episode was named after, the Gladiator is the least important part of this

Eventually, the Alteans had accepted the Paladins’ help in clearing out the old Paladin bedrooms and the trainees’ rooms.  
The only problem was that Lance and Allura wouldn’t let Shiro and Keith in the Black and Red Paladins’ rooms, and Lance had actively booby-trapped the trainee Red Paladin’s room. So far, Keith’s hair had been turned magenta, he had been mercilessly scalded, and Lance had _chased him off with a tranquilizer gun._

The upside was that Shiro gave Lance a stern talking to about how humans didn’t _like_ being chased with guns.  
The downside is that the other Paladins found out what Keith was trying to do, and for _some reason_ , Pidge got involved. It was almost enough to make Keith want to stop. But _goddamn_ , he was going to see what was in there!

So. There he was, traps disabled, Lance asleep a room over (he learned _that_ the hard way) and alarms pulled for maintenance by Pidge. He stayed in the blindspots of the cameras, and crept to the door. He entered the Paladin code that could open any door, and stared.

The room had been in a stasis field, not that it was any more. And it was made entirely of lava. Lava which was now pouring out towards him. There were a few knickknacks made of volcanic glass (Lance had some more in his room) but Keith, like all reasonable people, was concerned with the lava and subsequent fire. Years later, Lance would still use this fire as a cheap tactic in his arguments. Keith would point out he was a panicked teenager, and the castle didn’t come with fire extinguishers.

So, Keith was stuck between lava and a hard place, and naturally hauled ass out of there. Lance loved the vents anyway, he could escape. While he ran, he screamed at the top of his lungs about the fire.  
Shiro was, strangely enough, the first one up, followed by Coran (where did he _come from???_ ) and the princess, then Lance and the other Paladins.

“Where’s the fire, Keith?” Shiro smiled, clearly believing it all to be a joke.  
“The trainee Paladins’ quarters.” Keith sniped.  
The smile whipped off of his face, and Shiro raced towards the corridor. “What did you _do_?”  
“I didn’t do anything!” Keith hissed.

Coran had had the knowledge and foresight to show up with a bucket of water, though it was not enough.  
“What happened?!” Allura demanded. _That_ apparently woke Lance, who opened his door blearily, glared at the lava, and proceeded to run across it barefoot, slippers in hand.  
Keith let out an ungodly shriek.  
“Get a hold of yourself!” Allura ordered, before turning to Lance. “Are you hurt?”  
“No, my soles are a bit sore, but it’s not as bad as the desert of the South in winter.” Lance gave a forced grin.  
“You got lit on fire last time we were there.” Allura deadpanned. The other Paladins did a double take.

“ _Technically_ , it was the sun’s fault. And like I said back then, it takes a lot to burn an Altean.” Lance checked his soles, showing that they were unburnt.  
Allura pinched Lance’s ears. “ _Do not_ do that again.”  
“Ow, ow, _stop_. I am nearly an adult, ‘Lura!”

“You have 188 feebs old, and _nearly_ does not an adult make.” Allura scoffed.  
“Okay, I need an explanation for literally everything. What is a feeb?” Pidge asked.  
“One rotation of our planet around our planet’s sun.” Lance answered.  
The other Paladins stared.

“…how old are you, Allura?” Shiro asked as Coran shut off that particular corridor.  
“219 feebs. In several quintants, I will become 220 feebs old, and then I will ask Lance and Coran to aid me in a coronation.” Allura replied.  
The Paladins stared at her, agog.

“Is something wrong?” Coran asked.  
“…you look good for 219, princess.” Shiro said weakly.  
Lance and Coran shared a look.  
“What do you mean?” Allura asked.  
“You don’t look old.” Shiro said.  
“Thank you?” Allura replied.

“And here we see a native Takashi Shirogane in the wild.” Pidge said in their best accent. “He is likely looking to bust a nut, but he has failed to impress the only viable female nearby.”  
Hunk made a choking noise, and Shiro turned bright red. Keith, who was a whirlwind of emotion already, made a sound that was similar to a strangled squawk.  
“What does ‘bust a nut’ mean?” Lance asked.  
Pidge folded their hands against their face in thought. “Mmm… I _did not_ expect it to go this far. Nature programs have not prepared me for this part. _Also_ , I don’t want to die. So, why was the castle on fire?”

“Keith lowered a stasis field around Myri’s room.” Lance growled. “She was a Hletrep’gan.”  
 “A what now?” Shiro asked.  
Lance borrowed a pad of Coran’s (“where do you keep those?” “I have secret compartments full of pads all over the castle”) and pulled up an image.  
“Ah. A fire mermaid.” Hunk said. “Neato.”

“Neato?” Pidge asked.  
Allura crossed her arms. “Don’t blame Keith for this. I specifically remember Father telling Myri that it was a fire hazard.”  
“I _will_ blame Keith for this! We took precautions, and it was a part of her _home_ , Allura! You mentioned a coronation, have you forgotten why you need it? Would you deny someone else that comfort?”

“How dare you?!” Allura demanded. “How _dare_ you compare the destruction of Altea—”  
Both Allura and Lance yelped as Coran tugged sharply on their ear tips.  
“There will be no more of that. Get Keith back to bed, he looks badly shaken by the whole experience, and I believe he’s been losing sleep trying to crack your codes. We will all speak _civilly_ tomorrow morning.”

The Paladins quickly returned.  
“219…” Shiro breathed.  
“I half expect Iverson to jump out of nowhere.” Pidge snickered.  
Hunk grinned back. “This _does_ feel a lot like one of our Garrison pranks…”  
Keith finally spoke. “Does this mean Lance is… _fire Jesus?_ Because… he’s really hot.”

“Did… Keith just make a pun?” Hunk asked.  
“A heretical pun, I believe.” Pidge nodded. “I have taught you well, Keith.”  
“ _219…_ ” Shiro repeated. “She’s a cougar.”  
Pidge fistbumped Hunk. “Congrats on not having a mental breakdown because of thirst, am I right?”  
“Dude, once they come back online, Keith’s gonna whoop your ass if you continue that way. You know that, right?” Hunk pointed out.

“He’ll have to catch me first.” Pidge replied flippantly.  
The next morning, Allura and Lance were sitting silently across from each other when the others walked in.  
“Keith, are you alright?” Allura asked.  
Lance glared at Keith, and sipped his drink. Allura narrowed her eyes and kicked him under the table. Lance jolted upright, directed his glare to his sister, then put his drink down.

“Are you satisfied now?” Lance demanded.  
Allura tried to kick him again, and Lance stuck out his tongue.  
“You could have warned me!” Keith huffed.  
“I _did_ warn you. I told you to stay out of there. You didn’t listen, and the fire spread to my room before Coran was able to end it.” Lance growled. “ _I_ am somewhat fire resistant, my things weren’t.”

Now, it should be mentioned at this point that Keith was _not_ raised by wolves. He had been adopted by the Shirogane family, which were made up of cultured, intelligent, disciplined individuals. For the most part, those attributes applied to Keith as well. This, however, was one of those moments that Keith was the opposite, hence the ‘mostly’.

“Why were you sleeping away from the rest of us anyway?” Keith demanded. “Too _good_ for us, your highness?”  
Lance rose from the table. “I am not too good, Keith.” His voice was quiet, but everyone heard. “I am grieving. I am grieving for my culture, my civilization, my family, my friends, and the woman I loved. I intended to stay in the room that gave me some comfort even after the rest of you were moved to the Paladin rooms, because it still feels _wrong_ to sleep in Hreth’s room. I intended to keep what reminder I could of them. But, for some _reason_ , because you felt what I assume was entitled to Myri’s room, you have destroyed nearly everything that I have left of them. So I’ll ask again. Are you satisfied now?”

“Lance, he did not mean to—” Allura began.  
“Stop. Defending. Him.” Lance ground out. “I am your _brother_. He was in the wrong, and I have yet to hear an apology. For once in your life, can you be on _my_ side?”  
“He is a Paladin of Voltron—”  
“So am I. I have been one for feebs, not just _quintants_.”

Allura rose. “Put this pettiness aside immediately. How do you expect to form Voltron if you cannot connect with your fellow Paladins?”  
Lance cocked his head. “What about when you cannot trust your fellow Paladins? When they cannot respect your privacy, or your belongings?”  
“Amen, brother.” Pidge high-fived him. “Stop touching my stuff, guys.”

Lance pointed at Pidge. “ _They_ call me brother. _You_ cannot even muster loyalty to separate Paladins. It’s not Father in that armor, Allura. You won’t bring him back by taking his side again. And you will never be a great queen if you ignore the feelings of half of your subjects.”  
He stalked into the other room, and Pidge laced their fingers together. “So, Keith, if you want tips on how to flirt like an actual human being, I could probably give you some.”

“When were _you_ in a relationship?” Hunk asked.  
“Agh, never. I’m never going to touch the stuff. But I figure, as an asexual aromantic, I could still do much better than Keith.”  
Hunk raised an eyebrow. “That is like competing against a blind man to describe the stars. Of course you’d win, but was he ever really playing?”

“I could totally flirt if I so chose.” Keith hissed.  
“There will be time for that later.” Shiro said. “You messed up, Keith. Both Lance and Pidge told you not to go in there, and instead, you ended up destroying Lance’s possessions. I am very disappointed in your behavior. Furthermore, I am _scandalized_ that you have failed to apologize. What would Dad say if he were here? What would Mom? You’re meant to be an adult, Keith. You’re eighteen years old. And yet you act like a destructive child. Now go after him, and _fucking kowtow_ if necessary. Because if I find out that you jeopardized Voltron this way, I will be _beyond_ pissed off.”

Pidge and Hunk looked at each other as Keith ran off.  
“You and Keith are close…” Allura observed.  
“We’re brothers.” Shiro shrugged.  
Allura nodded. “Then, you understand why I was hard on Lance. I can’t lose him too, and if he goes down because he’s unable to form Voltron with all of you…”

“What if he lives? What if he lives, but there is an irreparable edge between you two?” Pidge demanded. “What then, Allura?”  
“There’s more than one way to lose a brother.” Hunk agreed solemnly. “And _wow_ , you guys need to chill before it becomes less Sokka and Katara and more Zuko and Azula.”  
Pidge nodded. “ _Nice_ references.”

“Thanks.”  
“Who are… never mind. Lance is _fine_. He needs to be spoken to harshly, or he’ll never do anything. This is the Altean way.”  
“We’re not Altean.” Pidge muttered.  
“And he’s not 100% Altean.” Hunk added under his breath. Allura looked at him sharply, then deepened into a glare.  
“It doesn’t matter. If anything gets out of hand, I will take care of it. You may think me heartless, but I _do_ care for my brother.” Allura took a deep breath. “At this point, if it came down to all of you, including Coran and the lions and the mice being killed, or my brother… I would choose his life.”

“Whoa holy shit Altea was a ride or die kinda place.” Pidge whistled.  
“Pidge, _language_.” Shiro ordered.  
Pidge shot him a look, then made their voice deeper in an imitation of him. “’Now go after him, and _fucking kowtow_ if necessary.’”  
Hunk raised a hand. “So… anyone else find it _odd_ how we sent Keith, who again, his natural reaction to messing with a guy’s stuff and burning the rest of his stuff to ash was to yell at him about not being a team player, to go comfort said guy? Because this has a very high chance of not ending well at all.”

Keith was back to being the nice young man raised by the Shiroganes, and was consumed by incredible guilt. However, he was quickly able to locate Lance, sitting cross-legged on the ground outside this ‘Myri’s room. …alright, he was a little bit jealous, and maybe that had led to the blow-up earlier but that wasn’t the point.

Upon closer inspection, Keith could see that Lance was looking at a picture. It was mostly ashes, leaving only Lance untouched in it.  
“Um… I wanted to apologize.” Keith began.  
“For what, specifically?” Lance didn’t turn around.  
“Everything, really. The room, your stuff… I let my curiosity get the better of me, and it ended up destroying your things. I am truly sorry about that, Prince Allances.”

“Lance. You’re a fellow Paladin, you have my permission. Besides, what would I be Prince of?” Lance laughed bitterly, and Keith felt like someone had stuck a knife into his gut.  
“And I’m sorry that you lost your keepsakes from your family. I… I don’t have much to remember my birth parents by. When I think of my father, it’s just my Dad, the one I share with Shiro. He has a scar through his right eyebrow, and usually has a bit of stubble, but he never wants the hassle of a full beard. Mom says that he looks like he crawled out of the desert, because he is usually out there on digs and tracks sand into the house and…” Keith trailed off.

Lance finally turned around. “But you’re an orphan.”  
Keith glared at him. “I have a family.”  
“I didn’t say that you didn’t. …Red has a special type of Paladin, and you remind me of Myri. And my father. That may be why we have… this. I dislike you for being here when she can’t be, and I dislike you for being him when you could have been different.”

“What.” Keith remarked flatly.  
Lance sighed. “My relationship with my father is complicated. You saw the memory. My relationship with Myri… I told you, I loved her. You cannot simply replace her, at least to me. That’s why I didn’t want you in her room. I wanted every last shred of her to myself.”  
“Okay, _seriously_ , I was out of line. Please stop being sad now.”  
Lance raised an eyebrow. “Wow, Keith. You told me to stop and it magically worked!”

Keith stood. “Yes! Good! Yell at me, hit me, take it all out on me! I was a complete _dick_ , and I’m sorry about that.”  
Lance shook his head. “I’m not going to fight you, Keith. But… you really want to make it up to me?”  
“ _Yes_!”  
Lance stood as well. “Then I guess I’ll just consider you my new Myri, or an extension of her.”  
Keith stared at him.

Lance cracked a grin. “Not like that, she didn’t know about my feelings. I barely realized it myself until Pidge asked. But a partner, someone who will support me and fight by my side, and who I will support and fight for in turn. A close friend.”  
Keith swallowed. “I’d like that.”  
Lance’s face lit up. “Great. Space ranger partners it is.” Then he narrowed his eyes. “But seriously, if you fail to respect my boundaries, I will fight you hand to hand, no bayards. And from what Pidge tells me, I am _much_ stronger than a human.”

Keith gulped. “Duly noted.”  
Lance’s grin returned. “Then we don’t have a problem. Let’s get back before my sister sends the castle bots after us.”  
“…would she?” Keith asked as they started back.  
Lance grimaced. “Yes. She… Allura is more dedicated to Voltron than to its Paladins. Which makes sense, we have a family to avenge. But I already learned from our previous Black Paladin that if you fall behind them, if you’re out for too long, they’ll replace you at a moment’s notice. Allura is the same way.”

“Did… they try to replace you?” Keith asked.  
Lance shook his head. “The trainee Green Paladin got hurt badly during a training exercise. Xe almost died, and they were in the pod for weeks. Tavrotine tried to force Green to choose a new Paladin by using Black. He would have done it too if Myri and Red and Blue and I hadn’t stepped in. I’m not leaving anyone behind, and Myri would rather cut off her own arm than lose a family member… I used the wrong tense, didn’t I?”

“It’s a lot to take in.” Keith shrugged. Internally, he was panicking. Hunk would be much better at this. Or Pidge. Or literally anyone else. Somehow, he, _Keith_ , had ended up comforting Lance. The Galra would probably be better at it.

Speaking of which, they passed a screen showing the outside of the castle. What looked like a muppet was arguing with a Galra.  
“What the fuck…” Keith eloquently muttered.  
“We’ve got company.” Lance sing-songed, grabbing Keith’s hand and pulling him back to the dining room abruptly.

“Lance, have you and Keith made up?” Allura asked.  
“Yes.” Lance said shortly, before searching for one of Coran’s many pads and pulling up the image of the Galra outside. The muppet was gone—wait, there it was, in the bushes—and the Galra was now doing some sort of strange dance. As far as Keith could tell, it was comprised of stomping, squatting, leaping up, and then making noodle arms (and the wave, at one point) and starting over again.

“They dance like white people.” Hunk said in horror. “ _Drunk_ white people.”  
Pidge shook their head. “Don’t put this on us.”  
“This is a tragedy.” Hunk stated firmly, rising and exiting to the door.

Lance and Allura looked at each other and shrugged.  
“Today is bizarre.” Allura noted.  
“I never would have expected _Hunk_ to be taken in by such a subpar mating dance.” Lance added. “Though I suppose one cannot control when one’s loins are inflamed with lust.”

Pidge laughed. “Okay, best term goes to you.”  
“Should we help him?” Shiro asked. “The Galra aren’t trustworthy.”  
Allura and Lance both shrugged.  
“It’s not as though you’re not right. And it is most likely a trap.” Allura said.  
“But we can shoot missiles at her from here if she tries anything. And I legitimately want to hear what Hunk is going to say about this.”

Hunk had finally made it outside. The Galra was highly surprised, which gave him the opening he needed to grab their hand and pull them into a partner dance.  
“Okay, keep the rhythm, one two three, one two three, one two three… great, you’re getting it!”  
Sendak and Kurok watched from the bushes with the Arusian.

“This was… not what I thought was going to happen.” Kurok admitted.  
Sendak stroked his chin thoughtfully. “Clearly, you did not account for the humans having different mating customs, Kurok. No matter, Haxus shall carry it out.”

“Now you’re ready to try a dip.” Hunk said.  
“A _what_?!” Haxus demanded.  
“Relax, I won’t drop you.” Hunk replied.  
Haxus glared at the bushes, willing them to be set on fire by some higher power. Not to hurt his glorious Sendak, of course, just that _idiot_ Kurok. Haxus smiled at the mental image of Kurok dying a fiery, painful death. Then he smiled some more at the thought of his glorious leader Sendak getting all hot and bothered… ahem.

“Yeah, you’re getting it.” Hunk grinned. “You’re a natural.”  
“You’re not so bad yourself, Paladin.” Haxus purred.  
Hunk stepped back. “Oh, no no no no, I’m not… okay, I can see how you would think that, but I am not really looking for anything right now? Ah… sorry.”

“We danced.” Haxus hissed.  
“Yeah… but it wasn’t… a sexy thing… I don’t even know your name.”  
Haxus crossed his arms. “I am Commander Haxus of the ship _Na’dir_ that you destroyed.” There was a _thwak_ sound from the bushes, as though someone had smacked themselves. Hopefully Kurok.  
“Oh, this is bad… wait, why haven’t you stabbed me?”

Haxus rolled his eyes. “I don’t have a quiznacking knife, now do I, Paladin?”  
“That… doesn’t mean you’re trustworthy. Many people don’t have knives, and are terrible.”  
Haxus glared at him. “What, don’t you trust me?”  
“No. You have literally _never_ given me a reason to trust you.” Hunk pointed out. “You are just some random Galra that we shot down.”

A rock was thrown out of the bushes at Haxus’ head. Likely Sendak, reminding him of how terribly this was going. Haxus smiled. “Of course, paladin. You’re _so_ right. I… wish to defect?”  
“Nice try.” Hunk crossed his arms, then backed up. “Listen, if you try to attack me, it is _not_ going to end well for you.”  
“Attack? Why would I attack?” Haxus asked. “I’m completely innocent.”  
Hunk raised an eyebrow, and backed into the door. “Uh-huh.”

Due to Lance’s machinations, the door quickly opened and closed behind Hunk.  
“Any other _brilliant_ ideas, Kurok?” Haxus sneered after a minute.  
“Have you tried dancing _well_?” Kurok asked.  
“Listen here, you idiot! I am _through_ following your stupid plans! Because of you, I am dressed like I should be walking the streets selling myself for twenty GAC, and what did it get us? A day in these squalid bushes and a night of walking back to our camp so that they don’t see us.” Haxus hissed.

Sendak glared at him. “Are you, or are you not, a Galra soldier? Stop your whining and sit down.”  
“I can’t.” Haxus growled. “If I sit, my… unmentionables… will be open for everyone to see!”  
“Then squat.” Sendak suggested. “Kurok, sit between Haxus and I so that I am not tempted to betray my lovely Alrya by Haxus’ shapely form.”  
Haxus’ ears perked up. “Sir!”  
“He cannot do a mating dance to save his life, I don’t think it’s an issue.” Kurok muttered.

The Arusian, meanwhile, had snuck into the castle. Klaizap was annoyed by the Purple Ones. They talked too loud and assumed that they had all the right to speak to the Lion Goddess when they couldn’t even talk respectfully to her giant priest. Couldn’t dance, either, and they were _clearly_ shady.

But they were not his problem, the Lion Goddess was. Or… how they’d been judged as unworthy. Either one.  
Klaizap was quickly intercepted by the priests of the Lion Goddess, and brought to a room with an enormous table. There was what Klaizap assumed was a female priest.  
“So, what are we going to do with this little guy?” The enormous giant who had defeated the purple ones asked.  
“He’s kind of cute.” One with enormous eyes who had probably shrunk themselves to accommodate him more noted.

Priests or not, that was _annoying_. “I am not cute!” Klaizap growled. “I am an elite warrior!”  
“If that’s the case, drop your weapons.” The tall one with the piercing eyes ordered. Klaizap knew a warrior when he saw one. Defeating this one would prove that he was indeed a true warrior.  
“Keith, calm down.” The other tall one with white hair who was not a woman cooed. Klaizap realized that he must be the lifemate of the Keef-warrior.

“Why are you here?” The final priest asked, kneeling so that he could make eye contact with Klaizap. He had a large shock of white hair, a deep scar, and understanding eyes.  
“I am here to speak to the Lion Goddess.” Klaizap announced.  
The woman finally turned. “The Lion Goddess?”

Klaizap nodded. “She who has guarded Arus for centuries, at the very beginning. Recently, the sky falls around our heads and burns the forest, and strange giants—bigger than even you, Purple-Defeater—dance in the sky. We know not how we have angered the Lion Goddess, but I will fix this.”

Woman smiled kindly. “Do not fear. You have not angered the Lion Goddess. The sky has burned with the enemies of Arus, and the giants dancing in the sky were her emissaries.”  
Like a bolt of lightning, Klaizap realized. He dropped into the deepest bow that he could. “ _Lion Goddess_.”  
“Stand, warrior. Take us to your village.” Lion-Goddess-Woman ordered, not unkindly.

Light-Hair-Tall-One shot her a long look. “Where are you going with this?”  
“Voltron is about spreading peace, Allances. I have not forgotten its original intention. And… some time away from the castle might allow us the opportunity to… bond.” Being a warrior was about perception. Klaizap was able to see that Lion-Goddess-Woman was somewhat nervous about Light-Hair-Tall-One. Possibly a bit sad too. Perhaps a great wrong had happened between them.

Light-Hair-Tall-One squinted at Lion-Goddess-Woman for a minute, then relented. “Yeah. Truce?”  
Lion-Goddess-Woman nodded. “For now, yes. But Lance, I cannot favor you over the other Paladins just because you’re my brother.”  
“Don’t ruin the truce, and just be concerned with treating _all_ of us like people, instead of compensating for bias.” Keef-warrior huffed.

Lion-Goddess-Woman looked surprised, but Klaizap wasn’t. Protecting a lifemate was the most basic thing a warrior could do, even if it was against the Lion Goddess. Lans-Tall-One looked at Keef-Warrior in surprise, then smiled. “Thanks, buddy.” Clearly this was a sweet nothing whispered between lovers. Klaizap’s horns burned at hearing such indecency in public. Klaizap did not know the customs of Lion-Goddess-Priests regarding physical intimacy in the presence of others, but he did not want to find out.

“I will go tell the chief.” Klaizap said quickly.  
Enormous-Eyes-Small-One looked at Klaizap, then at Lans-Tall-One and Keef-Warrior, then back to Klaizap. “Probably wise.”  
“What about the Galra?” Deep-Scar-Kind-Eyes asked. “We can’t leave the castle undefended.”  
“I’ll stay.” Enormous-Eyes-Small-One replied. “I need to ask the rescued prisoners about my father and brother.”  
“Maybe they know something about my past as well.” Deep-Scar-Kind-Eyes smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Keith, Hunk, Lance, escort the princess and make sure nothing happens to her.”

Huck-Giant nodded. “And Coran?”  
“I think he said he was going to go through storage and make an inventory.” Lans-Tall-One remarked thoughtfully. “I’ll help him when I get back.”  
“Or we could go train some more. You need to work on your hand to hand.” Keef-Warrior said.  
Klaizap narrowed his eyes. He was _definitely_ leaving now. You do _not_ train with your lifemate if you are a warrior, because you’ll get distracted, and a distracted warrior is useless.

He ended up riding in the Lion Goddess’ chariot with Keef-Warrior, while Lion-Goddess-Woman was carried in the blue chariot with Lans-Tall-One.  
“Please do not show such affection to your lifemate publically once we reach the village.” Klaizap said. “It is uncomfortable.”  
“Who—you mean _Lance_?” Keef-Warrior demanded.  
Klaizap nodded. “Who else?”  
“We’re not… lifemates, whatever that is.”  
“Don’t _lie_ to me. I saw you.” Klaizap snapped.

Keith managed to make the muppet shut up as they arrived, then avoided Lance. For once, the royal siblings seemed to be getting along, with Lance smiling and bowing and playing the role of the Lion Goddess’ trusted bodyguard. The siblings were even cracking jokes. It was a nice change of pace.

“Why do you look like something just died?” Hunk asked him.  
“What? What do you mean?” Keith demanded.  
“You are back to Grumpy Keith mode. You know— listens to MCR and Linkin Park, shops at Hot Topic, identifies with Ebony Dark’ness Dementia Raven Way on a spiritual level…” Hunk trailed off at Keith’s glare. “Seriously, Keith, what’s up?”

Keith glared at the village. “We’re meant to be fighting Zarkon, and we’re nowhere near ready. That Galra may not have been alone, and it’s a threat even if it was.”  
“So… it has nothing to do with Lance leaving you all alone.”  
“Why does everyone think I have a thing for Lance?!” Keith yelled, interrupting the dance of apology. The dancer began to wail.

“Please, forgive us, Lion Goddess!” The chief said.  
Klaizap whispered something to him.  
“You are completely forgiven.” Allura said. “I must apologize to you, on behalf of my Paladin. I have been meaning to speak with him about his feelings for my brother for quite some time.”  
The Arusians let out a collective ‘oh’.  
“ _What_?” Keith demanded. “I don’t want—I just met him! Sure, he’s attractive, but—but… we’re not in a relationship! No matter what _you_ or Klaizap or anyone thinks!”

“And that’s why we have the return of Emo Keith.” Hunk muttered, slowly trying to pull Keith away. “Okay, think happy thoughts—your mom, your dad, flying, the Garrison, that weird shack you were living in for like a year in the desert after you got kicked out… okay don’t think about that one that place was depressing.”  
Keith looked highly offended as Hunk dragged him away. “That’s my Dad’s shack for extended archaeology trips!”  
“You put a conspiracy board staring Mothman up in there!”

“Dad would appreciate it.” Keith hissed. “Dad introduced me to cryptids! And we’re literally standing on an alien planet, surrounded by aliens, fighting other aliens!”  
“And you want to make out with an alien.” Hunk muttered.  
“For the last time, I don’t want to make out with Lance!”  
“I didn’t _say_ Lance. Now sit down over here with me before you look like an idiot in front of everybody.” Hunk said. “Including Lance and his older sister.”

Back at the castle, Pidge was taking deep breaths. “You’re saying that Shiro hurt Matt?”  
“He leaped upon him with a wild bloodlust.” The alien agreed.  
Katie nodded and backed away slowly. “Shiro, I need to talk to you outside.”

Shiro shut the door behind them as they left, sighing. Inside, he was praying and hoping that he hadn’t hurt Matt.  
“Is it true?” Katie demanded.  
“I… I don’t know. I can’t remember.” Shiro admitted.  
She took a deep breath. “You… this was still early, right?”

“One of our first fights, from what I can tell.” Shiro looked back at the room full of aliens uncertainly.  
Katie picked at a thread on her shirt to avoid making eye contact with him. Guilt flooded through him as he realized Katie thought he was capable of this.  
“Have you… have you killed people, Shiro? Have you hurt them?”  
Shiro nodded slowly. “I… I have. But I don’t… I don’t like to think about it. It horrifies me to this day.”

“Then _why_ would you hurt Matt?!” Katie demanded. “You… you know he’s asthmatic! You know he’s not good at fight… ing…” Katie trailed off as they looked at each other.  
“Katie, we don’t know that’s why I did it.” Shiro pressed. “I-I… you should go find Coran.”  
“You and Matt were friends! You ate dinner with us all the time! I thought… you were like another brother to me. And so is Keith, especially after you disappeared. You can’t be _evil_.”

Shiro took a deep breath, trying to get his emotions under control. “I’m not evil, Katie. But there is a very real chance that I am _dangerous_ , that I lash out and harm people. Innocents, like Matt. It-it could be something the Galra did to me. I don’t know. And until we know exactly _what_ happened to me… Keith should be your brotherly stand-in. You just said you’re close, right? Stick with him, be the arms. …now go find Coran.”

“I’m not a child.” Katie hissed, blinking back tears behind Matt’s glasses.  
Shiro’s heart nearly broke. “You are. But it doesn’t really matter, because as much as I’d want you back home, safe and not in a war and not near _this_ , you’re here. You’re here, and Matt isn’t, and it’s _my_ fault.”  
“Shiro…” Katie slid her glasses up her nose the same way Matt did.

Shiro turned sharply away from her and moved towards his room, hiding how upset he was from the other Paladin. The Black Paladin’s room was the first to be cleared out, and the first to be moved into. Whoever had had it before had had an enormous double bed that felt far too vast and empty to Shiro, but was soft. There had been some things drilled into the walls—areas where there were bars and steps for exercise, but also nails for pictures. The linens still remained, though they had been cleaned and now smelled like Altean soap.

A black canopy hung over the bed, extending beyond it almost to the door. A thick rug of black fur covered a good part of the floor, and an ebony table surrounded by chairs was in the corner. After some consensus, Allura and Lance had left what appeared to be a teapot in the room on top of the table, but the equivalent of the teabags had been removed to the kitchen. There was an en suite bathroom, as well as a large closet that had comfortable robes and bathrobes. Hand carved symbols that reminded him strangely of the druids and captivity and made him panic when he saw them out of the corner of his eye ran along the walls and floor of all of his rooms. He stayed out of the circle of carvings, but other than that, his room was comfortable and enormous.

He needed that space sometimes, waking up with the nightmare of being held down, the comfortable mattress and blankets against his skin contrasting with his memory of Galra prisons.

What did he _do_ there? Did—did he really hurt Matt? Katie believed it had been a ploy, and she may have been right. Or maybe-maybe he _was_ a monster.

It is worth mentioning that at that particular moment, Matthew James Holt was more or less fine. He was as healthy as he could reasonably be in a Galra mining colony, and was currently singing Disney songs under his breath.

“4513!” A guard yelled right behind him.  
Matt froze. “Yes…?”  
“What have we told you about singing under your breath, 4513?” The guard growled as Matt turned to face him.  
Matt blinked rapidly. “Not… to do it…?”  
“Exactly, Prisoner 4513! Now, continue the permitted way!” The guard ordered.

Matt sighed very loudly, then bellowed at the top of his lungs in a reedy voice, “Wish that I had…”  
“A girl worth fighting for!” The prisoners around him joined in. They seemed to like that song, for whatever reason, and now it was stuck in Matt’s head. Somehow, he had become the lead singer, singing the songs from home. The Galra liked when the prisoners sang, because it kept them on track, in synchronization, and didn’t really bother anyone. Matt’s Disney songs, filtered through the translators clipped to everyone’s ears, were somehow the most popular.

Today was apparently a day for everyone’s favorite; Mulan. The Galra prized female warriors, which were apparently bigger and stronger than male ones, and they had heartily enjoyed the story when Matt told it. That did not mean that they did not like ‘Bring Honor to Us All’, even if women weren’t given the same prestige in their culture. On the contrary—‘Bring Honor to Us All’ was one of the guards’ favorites. Honor was a strong part of Galran life, and if there was any way to get it, it was approved of. (Also that song mentioned an Emperor, which the Galra were pleasantly surprised to hear as an accurate translation instead of ‘King’.)

Matt, as the Master of the Songs, was highly prized and allowed to sleep on a mat instead of the ground. In all honesty, Matt thought that was the Galra making a pun, but he could never be sure. Galra were sneaky. “We’ll have you washed and dried, primped and polished ‘til you glow with pride…” Matt devoted his attention to the song and the work in front of him. Better not to question their small mercies.

Back on Arus, Pidge kicked the console of the Galra ship. She couldn’t get in, no matter what, without some Galra identification… Pidge thought her next move out carefully. There was a Galra nearby, that was true, but what they might demand in exchange for their help would be exorbitant. And you know, highly dangerous (Pidge wasn’t really concerned with that part).

She set out on foot, scrambling over hills and other nature-y shit. (Honestly, Pidge had no sense of direction, but she’d be damned if she admitted that.)  
Luckily, she ran into a Galra in some bushes a little ways away from the castle. Potentially unluckily, she ran into him with his pants down.  
They both screamed.

Pidge covered her eyes. “I need to talk to you.”  
“I’m a little busy.” The Galra hissed. …oh, okay, it was a _different_ Galra. That wasn’t very comforting.

“Yeah, well so am I! Help me out, and then I’ll leave you alone.”  
The Galra sighed. “Can you turn around, _please_? I got away from the others _specifically_ so I wouldn’t have to go through this.”  
Pidge obediently turned around. “If you stab me in the back, I’m going to be _so_ pissed.”  
“And then what would I do? Waddle back to the others with my uniform around my legs? No, thank you.” He snorted. There was a rustling, then the Galra joined Pidge.

“Alright, so what do you want?” The Galra asked her.  
“I want you to open the ship’s logs so I can find my family.” Pidge brandished her weapon. “And I’m not afraid of you.”  
“Well, I’m afraid of you.” The Galra scoffed as they made their way towards the wreckage. “You just showed up out of nowhere while I was vulnerable and pointed a weapon at me.”

Pidge snorted. “You’re like, seven feet tall with claws. One swipe could kill me.”  
The Galra looked concerned. “You’re as fragile as a kit! Oh, _quiznack_ … are you a kit?”  
“I am more than capable enough of hurting you.” Pidge replied.  
“…fair enough. Are you sure that you can get the Na’dir to work?” The Galra asked as they reached it.

“With your help? Of course.”  
“But the crystals powering the ship are gone.” The Galra said as he moved towards a console.  
“Don’t worry about that.” Pidge huffed. “I have that covered.”  
The Galra shrugged, then logged into the console. The background was of the Galra surrounded by what looked like his family. Two older Galra proudly stood next to him, while several Galra around his age grinned. A little Galra kid gave the camera a gap-toothed grin.

Pidge jerked back in surprise. You never thought about the other side having a family.  
“Is everything alright?” The Galra asked.  
“I… never mind. Open the ship’s logs.”  
“Now, see, I don’t think you want that. Your family was never on the _Na’dir._ I would know. What I _will_ look for instead is the prisoner records. Now—what are their serial numbers?”

“I don’t know.” Pidge admitted. “They were taken with Sh—with the Champion.”  
The Galra let out a sigh, and began typing into the keyboard. A picture of Shiro at the beginning of his incarceration popped up. The Galra then scrolled to the left, and there was a picture of Pidge’s father, looking slightly worse for wear.

She nearly cried. “That-that’s my father.”  
The Galra patted her shoulder awkwardly. “Don’t worry… okay, let’s see… he was the first to be split up, he was taken to the Delraxan System for mining… they sent him to planet 18-B… he was then transferred off to a nearby Balmera after showing ‘medical prowess’… and then he was freed in a prison riot instigated by a rebel faction.”  
“So he’s alive?” Pidge demanded.

“As of… twelve quintants ago, yes.”  
“Twelve days…” She was so, so close, and he’d been gone for _twelve days_?! “Who took him?”  
The Galra fixed her with a look similar to the one Matt gave her when she asked him to do her chores for her. “Paladin, I am not a rebel. Ergo, I am not versed in rebel factions. It could have been anyone from the Blade of Marmora, in which case he’s likely heading back to your planet, to the Sons of Kh’lazar. Rebels have such cool names…”

He scrolled left again, and a glasses-less Matt grimaced at her.  
“That’s my brother.”  
“I figured.” The Galra began reading Matt’s assignments. “He was first sent to the Arena with the Champion, but due to an injury and aggressiveness from the Champion, it was assumed he wouldn’t last long.”  
“Skip to the end!” Pidge hissed.

The Galra shot her an annoyed look. “I don’t know when it ends, because then it goes into the list of physical attributes. Do you know how similar the word for ‘hair’ is to the word ‘mining’ in my language?”  
Pidge let out an exasperated groan. “Come _on_. Even fan-run wikis for like… baby shows back on Earth are better set-up!”  
“I don’t know what any of that means, but I suggest you raise the issue with the Ministry of Information.” The Galra said. “I certainly wouldn’t stop you—the layout for our transfer applications looks like a weblum digested it partially.”

“Can you read silently then?”  
The Galra turned in his swivel seat to look at her. “I mean, of course I can, but don’t you want to know? If my brothers had ever been sent to the Arena and I didn’t know…”  
“Just… tell me where he is.” Pidge said lamely.  
The Galra nodded and scrolled down. Then he sat up suddenly, noticing the reflection of something very big heading straight towards them. “Please tell me that’s one of your lions.”

“What? No. Come on, just tell me!” Pidge hissed.  
The Galra picked her up like she weighed nothing. “Nope, nope, nope. I’m not dying here over this. I understand that you need to know your brother is safe, but we can come back later.”  
Pidge kicked him and screamed at the top of her lungs. “I need to know! Just leave me behind!”

“Leave a kit behind? With what is likely some Galra weapon heading for them? _No_. Even if I was a soulless monster, my sister would kill me.”  
“ _I_ am going to kill you!”  
“Not if I outrun you!” The Galra remarked cheerfully. He kept a tight hold on her until the whatever-it-was landed. Then the Galra set her down, and took off running in the other direction. Pidge considered chasing him, but it wasn’t worth it. She got back to the castle at the same time as the others.

They formed Voltron, and headed out to fight the monster that emerged. It damaged them quite badly, but thankfully Shiro had a deus ex flashback to the arena where he had fought the monster.

“It doesn’t—last time I had a sword to hit him.” Shiro said.  
“I could clobber him with my shield.” Pidge offered.  
“Voltron _has_ a sword function.” Lance said. “Keith, is Red trying to get you to stick your bayard in her console?”  
“Yes?”  
“Then what are you waiting for?” Hunk demanded.

“Keep it away from the _Na’dir_!” Pidge hissed warningly. “I need information on board—and to track down that quiznacking Galra…”  
“You went near the Galra?!” Shiro demanded. “Never mind. Right now, our priority is the village. On my mark… one…”  
Voltron was slammed by the ball.  
“Two…”  
It went flying, but the shield was intact.  
“Three…”  
The shield dissolved.

“Shiro?!” Keith demanded.  
“Now, Keith!”  
Keith plunged the sword deep into the monster.

Elsewhere, Sendak stroked his furry chin thoughtfully. “They avoided the village at all costs…”  
“They also avoided the _Na’dir_.” Haxus pointed out.  
“Perhaps. But more to the point, they avoided the village of the… helpless, weak things.”  
“They’re quite nice. They gave me a hat.” Kurok pointed out. He was indeed wearing a particularly stupid green hat.

“Is that where you went for so long?” Haxus demanded.  
Kurok immediately looked shifty. “Yes…”  
“It doesn’t matter. The village is a means to an end. We will exploit this weakness of Voltron’s, and thereby take the castle.” Sendak said.

“With the three of us? And damaged sentries?” Haxus pressed.  
Kurok stuck his hand up in the air. “Um. What weakness is this of Voltron’s? Their paladins seem incredibly strong and not at all weak.” He then gave a weak laugh.  
“True. But they care about the lives of others.”  
“That’s... weak?” Kurok asked. “I care about others. For example, I care about Commander Haxus.”

Sendak gave a long suffering sigh. “They care about _others_ , Kurok. Not their comrades, not their family. Just… random strangers.”  
“Ah. A trait which no Galra has ever had…” Haxus breathed in proudly.  
Kurok looked towards the Castle of the Lions in the distance and grimaced.

Back at the Castle, the former prisoners were being given transportation pods and sent on their merry way.  
“We’re going to need to go to a swap moon and replenish those if we keep freeing prisoners.” Coran noted.  
Lance rubbed his hands together in glee. “I _love_ swap moons!”  
“What’s a swap moon?” Hunk asked.

“It’s where the Unilu work! They’re basically pirates, but you can barter and buy anything there.” Allura chimed in.  
“Pidge, can I talk to you for a moment?” Shiro asked, pulling them away from the others.  
“That was a historic moment, you know. Lance and Allura weren’t at each other’s throats for once.” Pidge pointed out.

Shiro grimaced. “Sure. But… thank you for believing in me. I remember now—I attacked Matt to get him out of the Arena. He wouldn’t have survived, Katie.”  
“Yeah. The Galra said he was transferred out…” Pidge agreed, before scowling. “I was so stupid! If I hadn’t interrupted him, we might know where Matt is right now!”  
“Whoa, whoa, Pidge, what were you doing with the Galra?!” Shiro demanded. “I know they seemed harmless when they danced with Hunk, but they are _incredibly_ dangerous!”

“It was a different one.” Pidge admitted. “He freaked out when he realized how fragile human beings are. He literally pulled me out of the path of the monster when it was landing and I wanted to stay for the information.”  
“ _Katherine Ann Holt_ —how did you not tell us that there were multiple Galra?!”

“How do you know my middle name?” Pidge shot back. “And we were kind of busy!”  
“This is important information! What were you doing out there with the Galra anyway?!” Shiro demanded.  
Bit by bit, the story came out.  
“Katie, I want to know where Sam and Matt are too, but that doesn’t mean I’m willing to risk everything on the off-chance that I found a _kind_ Galra.” Shiro spat. “Go to your room.”

“You’re not my dad, Shiro.” Pidge turned on their heel and walked away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So; 
> 
> Texas Kogane is now Texas Shirogane (not his real first name but y'all know who I mean), renowned archaeologist.  
> Sam Holt is still alive, and gets mentioned instead of simply shunted to the side.  
> Even Kurok gets a Dad mention, while Alfor is... taking a nap? Shiro is extra Dad-ly to make up for it.


	5. Fall of the Castle, and the Rise of Altea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Parents show up feat. Drunk Keith, Flirty Allura, and Lotor cameo

Allura’s 220th feeb drew nearer, and she reminded the Paladins of this.  
“So… you’re 220?” Shiro asked faintly. He did not seem likely to go into shock this time.  
“Yes, 220 feebs.” Allura said. “How old are you?”  
“25.” Shiro answered.

Allura stared at him in undisguised shock.  
Keith walked over, grinning at the chance to mess with his brother. “Actually, he’s 6 and a quarter. He’s a leap year baby.”  
Allura backed away.  
Lance blinked rapidly. “Are all of your newborns so… muscular?”  
“How old are the rest of you?” Allura asked.

“14.” Pidge said, typing something into their laptop.  
“17.” Hunk calmly whisked something in a bowl, if one could whisk calmly while also at the speed of a medium sized planet hurtling around its sun, and just as hard.  
“18.” Keith added. “I’m the older brother.”  
“Piss off.” Shiro laughed.

“How long is your life span?” Lance asked worriedly.  
“How long is your planet’s rotation?” Coran added.  
“80 or so.” Pidge didn’t look up.  
“And 365 days, or… 379 quintants, I believe.” Hunk said.

The Alteans all visibly relaxed.  
“Your feeb is the equivalent of one of our decafeebs.” Allura said.  
“We age very similarly.” Lance added.  
“By your standards, Allura is nearly 22, Allances is nearly 19, and I am 67 and a half.” Coran explained. “19 and 22 are both big numbers in the royal family—17 is the age of consent, of course, but you can only get married after age 19, so don’t get any ideas! 22 is the age that a monarch can officially ascend to the throne.”

“Really? Oh, thank _God_. I’m 25 years old, but my birthday only returns once every four years.” Shiro explained. “So you _could_ say that I am 6 and a quarter—thanks for that, Keith.”  
As Keith and Shiro good-naturedly teased one another, Coran pulled Lance aside. “Allances, you are barely an adult yourself. Are you sure you’re up to performing the ceremony?”  
“Of course, Coran.” Lance smiled. “Blue and I can handle it.”  
“What about the dance?” Coran asked. “Will you get the Paladins to do it?”

Lance shook his head. “I don’t have time to teach them. Allura’s pushing off a thank you party from the Arusians, so it has to be before then. I’m just going to ask the lions.”  
“Suit yourself. Are you and Blue going to create the mound?”  
Lance nodded and grinned. “I can head out now if you think it’s a good idea.”  
Coran looked back at Shiro, who was still fully absorbed in a conversation with Allura. “Now would be a good time, yes.”

Lance made finger guns at Coran, and left for the hangar.  
“Hey, girls.” He called. “Green, you’re looking shiny today. Did Pidge wax your exterior?”  
Green confirmed that Pidge had been in there giving them extra care, but mostly in the form of potential upgrades.  
“Sweet. Red, did Keith sharpen your claws? I’m going to take a day off to look after my own lady at the rate you all are going at.”

Red pointed out that he was in there every evening taking care of Blue, who huffed that her Paladin could come by more often if he wanted to.  
Lance turned around. “Yellow…” The compliment died in his throat as he looked at Black. He had honestly tried to avoid her—they had never had a really good relationship, especially after Blue chose him. Sure, they could be around each other when other Paladins were nearby, but whenever Lance looked at Black, he could feel the lion’s disappointment settling on him. And she’d chosen Tavrotine, and before that, Zarkon.

Black prodded him gently, teasingly asking where her compliment was. Lance didn’t trust her.  
Blue leapt in saying that Black should leave her Paladin alone, and Red for once agreed.  
Black immediately tensed at her sisters’ hostility, and Yellow and Green entered the fray.

“Alright, _stop it_!” Lance yelled. “I came in here to ask you all something. It’s not for me, it’s for Allura. Can you please participate in her coronation?”  
After a pause, Red pointed out that it wasn’t likely that they had anything else to do.  
Yellow asked how Lance was going to make the mound.

“I was hoping Blue and I could do it—”  
Lance was cut off by Green telling him to open the hangar doors.  
“What? Why?” One does not argue with a giant mechanical lion though. So Lance opened the hangar door, and one by one the lions left until Blue and Black were the only ones left.

Lance nodded slowly. “That’s… not good.”  
Blue said that her sisters would help create the mound.  
Lance blinked. “Oh. _Oh_. That’s so sweet of them. But, Blue? I had this sort of idea… you know how at Father’s coronation there were those stairs that sparkled…?”  
Blue remembered. They were a show of wealth. Reactions among the lions had been mixed. On the whole it leaned more towards showy, and she was _not_ getting scaultrite for this.

“No, no, I was just wondering, could you create stairs made out of ice for Allura? Like glass, but… you know?”  
Blue did know, and she was touched that he would give her such a special job. She nuzzled her Paladin before bending down and opening her jaw.  
Black remained silent and unmoving. Then she sat down in front of the hangar door, effectively blocking Blue.

Blue huffed a request for her sister to move.  
Black asked why Blue’s Paladin feared her.  
Lance swallowed, safe in Blue’s cockpit. “I’m not scared of you.”  
Black stood, and insisted that _yes_ , he _was_. What was he scared of? She wouldn’t hurt him.

“I’m not _scared_.” Lance replied. “I don’t have anything to be scared of.”  
Blue jumped in again, warning Black to back off.  
Black’s eyes flashed. Who was Blue to command her? She moved away though, with the promise that they would return to this topic.

Blue joined her other sisters some distance away. Yellow had already created a circular mound of earth, and Red was helping her pat it down. Green was using her vines to grow a small border on top of and around it, leaving room for a set of stairs on either side. Lance cracked his fingers. “Alright, let’s make this the best coronation mound that’s ever been, girls!”

A few hours later, the rest of the Paladins entered the hangar. Black looked up briefly, but then returned to watching the hangar door.  
“Alright, I’m just going to say it.” Pidge said. “Where the hell are our lions?”  
“Where the hell is Lance?” Keith added.  
“It’s… not the Galra, right?” Hunk asked.

“No, they would have taken the Black Lion for sure.” Shiro said. “And she doesn’t seem worried about the others.”  
Green and Yellow arrived back first, rumbling to each other.  
“I didn’t know that they were this sentient.” Pidge mused. “That they could be completely independent of us.”  
Green nudged her gently as if to say that they were necessary. Pidge wasn’t sure, Lance wasn’t there to translate.

“How did they open the hangar door?” Hunk asked. “It doesn’t show any signs of damage like they nudged it.”  
Keith ran to the still open hangar door, and peered out. Then he swore loudly. “That quiznack stole my lion!”

“Can… we do that?” Pidge asked.  
“Lance probably can. The question is _why_ , though?” Hunk pointed out. “He loves Blue to pieces, why would he need anyone else?”  
Keith was now attempting to climb down out of the hangar with a knife clenched between his teeth. Pidge was pretty sure the only way he was able to do this was because of all the plant life that had accumulated on the outside of the castle over the past 10,000 years, but hey. Keith was determined.

“Keith, come back up here!” Shiro called, stepping over Black’s paws.  
Keith made an angry noise but did not attempt to talk with that knife in his mouth. Shiro didn’t even know where Keith had gotten it.  
“I’m going to count to three!” Shiro threatened.  
Keith made another angry noise.

“If you don’t come back, you’re grounded!” Pidge said in an imitation of Shiro.  
“Why not just take Yellow or Black with us to go find Lance?” Hunk asked. “ _Why_ go all Rambo on us?”  
“Have you ever seen Rambo?” Pidge asked.  
“Nah, I don’t like blood. That’s not the point though.” Hunk replied.

Keith’s head popped up over the edge of the hangar, and he scrambled over. He took the knife out of his mouth. “Let’s take all of them. We don’t know what happened—the Galra could have…” He tightly gripped his knife.  
“Trust me, the Galra aren’t in any hurry to mess with your boyfriend.” Hunk replied.  
“He’s not my boyfriend!” Keith hissed.

“Why do you say that, Hunk?” Shiro asked.  
“Because Keith gets all red and awkward around Lance and picks fights because he doesn’t understand how to properly woo someone.”  
“No, I mean it’s true, but the bit about the Galra.” Pidge said.  
Hunk looked at no one in particular. “N-no reason…”  
“I’m going to find out sooner or later.” Pidge told him. “Might as well make it sooner.”  
“Seriously, it’s nothing.” Hunk insisted. “If Lance wants you to know, he’ll tell you.”

“So this is a Lance thing and not a Galra thing.” Pidge leaned close to Hunk, trying to intimidate him. “Is this also what made Allura really mad at you at breakfast a few days ago? When you said Lance isn’t entirely Altean?”  
“Pidge, seriously, leave it alone. Lance doesn’t like it when we pry.” Shiro said. “And he could be in danger—let’s go.”

They suited up and flew out. Well, it was more of a jump, really, because Red and Blue were very close to the castle, doing something with a structure that somewhat resembled a gazebo.  
The lions landed, and after a minute, Blue reluctantly spat Lance out.

“Lance, did you make this?” Hunk asked in awe.  
Lance shook his head. “I mean I asked the lions, but they really did everything. Red and Yellow even made some sort of glass, and then Blue and Red did something with their quintessence…” Lance gestured to the gazebo covering, which looked like frosted glass tinged blue, but… _different_ somehow.

“How did you get the lions to do this?” Pidge asked.  
Lance shrugged. “I just asked Blue to help me, and then Green and Yellow told me to open the hangar door. I guess since it’s for Allura… anyway, I didn’t do much other than direct them.”  
Blue nudged him.  
“Oh, this is for Allura? Why didn’t you ask us to help?” Shiro asked.

“Probably because he didn’t want to be distracted by you two thirsting?” Pidge asked.  
Lance shook his head. “I… don’t know what that is. But you were all distracted, and I needed to set things up for Allura’s coronation. I didn’t know if you’d want to come, much less help…”  
“Lance, of course we would want to help.” Hunk said. “Not just because Shiro has a thing for your sister and Keith has—”

“Nope! No, shush!” Keith hissed. “Once again, that is misinformation!”  
“If it’s misinformation, why does it matter what we tell Lance?” Pidge asked.  
Keith glared at them. “You stay out of this.”  
Shiro cleared his throat. “We don’t have ulterior motives, Lance. We’re a team.”  
Lance had been watching them warily. At this he slowly turned to look at Black. “Can… can you even…? Never mind.”

“Can she what, Lance?” Pidge asked.  
Lance shook his head. “It’s nothing. Black and I just have some… history. I haven’t always agreed with her choices in the past, and… yeah.”  
“And it affects how you view me?” Shiro asked.  
Lance frowned. “Don’t worry, Black and Allura get along swimmingly.”  
“Okay, but this isn’t about your sister. It’s about _you_ , Lance. You’re part of the team.” Shiro said. “Teams help each other in any way that they can. We won’t force you to open up, but if you want to, we’re here for you.”

Lance lurched forward and hugged Shiro. “Humans are so weird.” He muttered. “But thank you.”  
Shiro awkwardly patted Lance’s back. “No problem. Are you ready to turn back?” Shiro tried very hard to ignore how Keith was glaring daggers at him. Luckily Keith had left his knife in the Black Lion.  
After a minute Lance pulled away, and wiped his eyes. “Yeah. Yeah, I think so.”

“And don’t be afraid to ask us for help!” Keith interjected. “Shiro’s right, we’re a team!”  
“And we would want to help with stuff like this.” Hunk looked up at the gazebo. “This is amazing… how did you do this? You mentioned the lions, but they don’t have the fine motor control to carry substances like this.”  
“What? Nah—they can shoot plants, earth, ice, fire… or lasers… out of their mouths.” Lance said. “It depends on the lion, really? But I unlocked my best girl’s ice breath when she said I was too young, and they can tone it down a bit so there’s more control.”

The Blue Lion said, with no small amount of amusement, that he had tricked her.  
“Aw, but Blue, consider—you were the first one of your sisters to open up your lovely mouth and sing with your paladin.”  
The Black Lion pointed out that they did not have the advantage of their paladins being with them in cryo-sleep for the past ten thousand decafeebs. The Green Lion pointed out that Blue wasn’t necessarily _singing_ when she used her ice breath, and that Black’s lasers were the closest approximation.

Yellow pointed out that it was sweet of Lance to sing the song that Hreth had taught him when Blue used her ice breath, and could he teach Hunk the one Kallan used to sing for them at any given time?  
Lance made finger guns at Yellow. “You got it, beautiful. I bet he’s got a great voice.”  
“Leaving that aside… why exactly did you create this for Allura?” Shiro asked.

“It’s for her coronation. …I may need to borrow your lions again.”  
“Why?” Pidge asked.  
“Because there’s an important part of the ceremony that needs their elements. Father once said that they were specifically designed with the elements in mind, making them sacred to Altea.”  
“So the lions are actually kind of a spiritual thing?” Hunk asked.

Lance grinned. “Yep! To Altea, at least. And to Arus too, it looks like. Voltron was meant to represent cosmic harmony, all five coming together. No two paladin rosters have ever had the same genetic makeup… though there always seems to be one Galra paladin and one Altean paladin.”  
“You were the last Altean paladin?” Pidge asked.  
“Actually, no. That was Tavrotine.” Lance’s face seemed shuttered.  
“Who was the last Galra paladin?” Keith asked.  
Lance frowned, and Hunk whistled loudly. “Whoa, guys, don’t we need to train right now? Zarkon could be knocking on our door with another of those monsters!”

“You’re right, Hunk.” Shiro said. “Everyone get in your lions, let’s make a sweep of Arus to see if the Galra that approached the castle is still nearby.”  
“Ahahahaha, funny story, Green and I need to do some maintenance! Her starboard thruster isn’t as powerful as her portside!” Pidge adjusted their glasses.

“…alright. Does anybody have any evasive tactics regarding hand to hand combat?” Shiro asked.  
Lance tapped his chin thoughtfully. “Is there a chance that we could encounter druids in hand to hand combat?”  
Shiro closed his eyes, and thought of happy things. Home. Keith toddling after him clutching an enormous stuffed lion named Kevin of all things on his first day of school because Kevin needed a kindergarten education as well. His mom taking him flying for the first time. His dad telling them exaggerated stories about the dig over the dinner table every time he was home.

“Yes. If we find any druids, consider them hostile.” Shiro all but spat.  
Keith put his hand on his brother’s shoulder to lend support.  
“Would it be okay if we used Allura as practice, then?” Lance asked softly. “She has… she has similar powers. If we should train to avoid the druids…”  
“Leave it alone, Lance.” Keith snapped. “He doesn’t want to talk about it.”

Lance briefly bristled. Blue nudged him, and he relaxed. “Fine. We still need to be able to fight common foot soldiers and sentries. Allura had a point when she basically said that we failed the gladiator.”  
“Allura said a lot more than that.” Pidge pushed their glasses up and peered up at him worriedly. “Are you alright? With your sister? Because honestly if Matt did that to me I would have punched him in the stomach a long time ago.”

“Allura’s grieving for Altea and our father.” Lance shrugged. “She’s… more driven than usual… she’s channeling her grief into Voltron.”  
“Yeah, okay, but she’s worse with you than with the rest of us, and you’re grieving too?” Hunk asked.  
Lance cracked his neck. “Honestly, I’ve been giving her space. She was on Altea more than I was, learning how to lead our people. Usually I give as good as I get. Alteans usually have more than one child, but due to competition for resources they don’t always get along.”

“You’re royalty, though.” Keith pointed out.  
“Yeah. Doesn’t mean fighting isn’t in the base codes of our DNA. As Alteans go, we actually get along pretty well. Allura isn’t always like this, at least I hope not, and it’s partially stress. But yeah, if anything happened to her, I would bloodily avenge her.” Lance smiled sweetly.  
“So again, Altea is a ride or die kind of place.” Pidge noted. “Why is that?”  
“Well, the legend goes that Al’s son Algonaith was murdered. Upon learning of this, his brother, Alagorn, who had hated his brother with all his heart, slowly and painfully killed each of the murderers. When asked why, he said that Algonaith was his to kill.” Lance shrugged. “It’s a front, really. Seriously injuring your sibling is one of the highest dishonors in Altean culture. And you’ve seen—when Allura goes too far with it, I stop her.”

“ _God_ your culture is fascinating.” Hunk exclaimed.  
Lance grinned. “I’d love to learn more about human culture! And gremlin culture too, Pidge.”  
“Uh… which one?” Pidge asked, elbowing Keith sharply before he could interrupt. “There are so, so many. Judging by languages alone there are like… 5,000, 6,000 maybe.”  
Lance blinked rapidly. “And… you all share cultures?”  
“What? Nah. I’m Polynesian.” Hunk said proudly.

“I’m Japanese-American, and Keith is Korean by ethnicity, and was adopted by us, so he’s kind of a mix of all three culturally.” Shiro said. “Largely because Dad didn’t want him to lose where he came from.”  
“I’m a gremlin.” Pidge reiterated. Hunk poked them, and they sighed. “I’m Jewish, with recent German ancestry. Happy now?”  
“Yes. Let’s get back to the castle.”

Vargas later, Lance intricately braided his sister’s hair. “So, this is it then?” He asked.  
“This is it. I… wanted to apologize. Over some of our arguments.”  
“It’s in our nature. We’re Altean.”  
“But we’re also part Galran, Lance.” Allura said. Then she tried to turn to look at him.  
“Hey, hey, hey, stop that! Do you want to have ugly hair?!” Lance huffed.

“Sorry. But, Lance, did you tell anyone? About… Mother’s parentage?” Allura asked quietly.  
Lance sighed. “I told Hunk, ‘Lura. Well, Sendak basically told him anyway, when we were being tractored in by the _Na’dir_ , or whatever that crazy Galra from a few days ago called it.”  
“Lance, you had no right… that was my secret as well.” Allura tried to keep a hold on her temper.

Lance pulled a bit harder than he needed to. “Yeah. I know. But better an explanation from me than my teammate thinking I’m a traitor. …why are you like this, by the way? With me in front of the team?”  
“Because… I have many justifications Lance. Impartiality, it’s hard seeing you in that armor… we never were this close before.”  
“We were never one of the last three Alteans left before.”

“More, probably. If… Zarkon… is alive, then… Haggar likely is as well. Perhaps her retinue. Perhaps Unc… Lotor. He’s as Altean as we are.”  
“Mm… I mean, we’re ¾ Altean, he’s just half, so…”  
“You know what I mean.” Allura scoffed, though she was smiling.

“Yeah, I guess. They probably know we’re alive anyway, no use hiding it and prolonging the coronation.” Lance stood. “I’m going to go get dressed.”  
Allura stood as well. “Make sure the other paladins aren’t… wearing their clothes backward or anything.”  
“Right? Earth clothes are so strange!” Lance nodded fervently. “Like Keith’s jacket—it doesn’t cover all of his back? Will he not get cold? And it looks soft but the outside is really… not? I don’t know how to describe it.”

Allura smirked, glad for the chance at normality. “When did _you_ feel Keith’s jacket?”  
“It’s not like I broke into his room or anything! It was on him!”  
Allura’s smirk widened. “Oh, _really_?”  
Lance blushed furiously but maintained eye contact. “Yeah, I felt it while _you_ were cooing at Shiro about how strong and well-muscled he is.”  
“I-I… good point.” Allura said. “I need to change.”

Lance saluted her and left, entering the room of the Blue Paladin. Coran had moved Altean dress clothes to each Paladin’s room, and Lance didn’t want to know where he found them. Hreth had asked for her floor to be made of granite, but sand from Altea’s massive deserts had been tracked in over many years, more so than other Paladin’s rooms. Hunk had compared it to a beach when they saw Lance’s room, and he liked the description. The Blue Paladin’s room intersected the castle’s water supply, which was separated by a thick wall of glass, creating the feeling of being underwater. Unlike the Black Paladin’s room, the bed was not the main focus. Rather, Hreth had put up a simple hammock near the only window, which was usually used to look at the stars. The rest of the room was covered with bookshelves and work tables. Unlike the Green Paladin’s room, they were not for inventions—they held antique star charts and old battle plans. Numerous hanging chairs dotted the room to give the experience of floating.

Lance pressed a button and the closet shot out of the wall, nearly whacking him in the face. He selected the copy –it could only be a copy, the other was ashes and Coran was no stranger to clothing replication—of his formal wear from Altea. A blue tunic with slightly darker pants, a white shirt underneath, and a golden sash and boots. He changed, and pressed another button. His coronet appeared from another drawer. His family preferred not to wear their crowns—his mother’s family never felt entirely comfortable with them, and his father associated it too closely with his own father—but it, like the armor, had always fit snugly. His coronet was a golden oval, inlaid with five circular blue gemstones to match his translators. His mother had always jokingly blamed Alfor for those, saying that they were so incredibly _Northern_. His father then made a quip about Southerners and their pink markings, and that having one’s translators in blue was far better.

Lance put on the coronet, and left his room. The other paladins were still in their rooms—he decided to start with Keith as he was closest.  
He knocked gently, and Keith immediately opened it. “Shiro I told you I don’t… hey, Lance.”  
Lance blinked rapidly. Keith was wearing the pants. And only the pants.  
Keith said something, and Lance tore his gaze away from Keith’s body, aware that he must seem like an enormous pervert.

“Lance? Did you hear me?” Keith asked, frowning in concern.  
Lance nodded quickly. “Ye-yeah!”  
Keith sighed in relief. “Thank God. Come on in.”

Lance nodded slowly and Keith moved to let him in.  
“So all I found were the pants, but Altean formalwear cannot only be those, so…” Keith trailed off.  
Lance nodded again. “You’re missing the shirt and tunic and the sash, and if we were on Altea, you’d be missing the cloak.”  
“Cloak?” Keith asked.  
“Mm-hmm. Altea’s mostly made of deserts. If you want to survive out there you need some protection.” Lance opened Keith’s closet. His earth clothes and armor slid out on the rack.

“See?” Keith asked. “It’s a mess.”  
“Yeah, it’s always been like this. Aging has not improved it…” Lance sighed, then closed the closet. Then he kicked it as hard as he could without damaging his foot or his boots. He then proceeded to swear in both Galran and Altean at the closet, finishing with calling it a worthless waste of space and a clothes eater to boot. Then he opened the closet again.

The rest of Keith’s formal wear slid out—a red tunic, a black shirt, a black sash, and black boots. As an added bonus, it offered Queen Idras’ coronet.  
“What’s this?” Keith asked, holding it up. It was very similar to Lance’s, just silver instead of gold with red stones to match Idras’ Southerner markings. It was specially made for her.  
Lance resisted the urge to snatch it out of Keith’s hands, and instead glared at the closet. “That was my mother’s. I thought we cleared it out…”

Keith abruptly tried to shove it into Lance’s hands. “Agh—here.”  
“What?” Lance nearly dropped it.  
“It was your mom’s! Take it!”  
“I… thank you?” Lance put it down on a dresser. “Do you need my help with the clothes?”

“No.” Keith huffed.  
“Do you _want_ my help with the clothes? For my sister’s sake?” Lance asked. “There’s a lot of etiquette that goes into these things.”  
“I… fine.” Keith was blushing. Lance nearly shoved the shirt into Keith’s hands, trying not to get distracted by the trail of hair leading into Keith’s pants – _did all humans have that?!—_ and looking anywhere but there.

Keith quickly changed and this did not exactly fix Lance (well, Pidge called it ‘thirst’, which he found accurate—his mouth was constantly dry around Keith. Perhaps he had heat stroke from the Red Paladin’s room?) because Keith was still incredibly handsome. At least he had the shirt on the right way.  
“Okay now the tunic.” Lance was gentler this time.  
Keith tried to put it on over his head, and Lance pulled it off, unhooking the secret clasps hidden under intricate embroidery.  
“It was hard to see.” Keith said defensively.  
“I’m not saying it wasn’t. Formal wear was designed by someone who wanted it to be as complicated as possible while not making us overheat.” Lance helped Keith button it up.

“What happened to ‘it takes a lot to burn an Altean’?” Keith asked.  
Lance adjusted Keith’s tunic so that it was snug against his body which unfortunately (in all honesty, _fortunately_ ) pulled him closer. “It does. Doesn’t take much to give one heat stroke.” Lance then reached for the sash, and tied it in a tight royal knot, the same as his. “Can you get your boots?”

“Is there a trick to them?” Keith asked.  
“Nah, no one messes with the boots.” Lance flashed a grin. “I’m going to go see if the others need help.” He sped out of the Red Paladin’s room, feeling the cool air of the hallway hit his face.  
Next was Pidge’s room. He knocked, and Pidge answered wearing the now gray shirt and sash, and dark green pants, but not the tunic.

“Hey Lance.” They gave him finger guns. “You’re here to help me with my dress uniform?”  
“You’ve got it pretty well figured out, actually. You just need the tunic.” Lance nodded.  
Pidge returned the nod, and let him in. “Lance… is there a different uniform for girls?”  
“No?” Lance asked. “I mean, the last two Green Paladins were female, but if you don’t like your dress clothes—”

“No, it’s not that, I just…” Pidge shrugged, and looked at the floor. “I considered just wearing the dress alone but… it’s um… I’m… never mind.”  
“Please don’t wear the dress alone.” Lance begged. “First of all, it’s a tunic, so jot that down. Second of all, that is what… _loose ones_ wear.”  
“What?” Pidge asked.

Lance felt himself flush, but in a different way than with Keith. This topic had never come up like this before. “You know… people who… _sell themselves_.”  
“Oh. Prostitutes?” Pidge asked. “Wait, you’re freaking out at the mere _mention_ of prostitutes?”  
“It’s not something that we speak about regularly on Altea!” Lance hissed. “They _exist_ , but…!”  
“Wow, you’re sheltered. So, this is unisex?” Pidge asked.

Lance nodded and unbuttoned it.  
“Sweet.” Pidge untied their sash and slid the tunic on, then buttoned it and redid the sash.  
“…how did you do that on the first try?” Lance asked.  
Pidge smirked. “Same way I did the sash—I watched others do it. In the case of the rest of the outfit, it was Coran and Hunk.”

“…I’m actually really impressed.” Lance admitted.  
“Yeah.” Pidge shrugged. “So… bye.”  
With that Lance was abruptly pushed out of Pidge’s room, left to ponder what their actual gender was. Actually that was true for all of the other paladins. He was _somewhat_ sure that Keith was a boy, but he didn’t know. Was it rude to ask? Probably.

He checked in on Hunk, but Coran had apparently already been there. Last, he tried Shiro, but Coran had beat him to it and was just finishing with the sash. Lance slipped out and made his way to the foyer where his sister was waiting. He was fairly certain that Black would be the one giving her a ride to the mound, but she might ask to go in his best girl. He certainly would.

Keith was already there, and Allura smirked at Lance over Keith’s head. Lance raised an eyebrow, what was she up to?  
“Allura, you look radiant.” Lance said. And she did. Unlike Lance and the other paladins, who were all dressed in Northerner formal clothes, Allura was wearing a beautiful red bodysuit covered in different layers of  built in skirts in varying layers of opacity. She had foregone her usual bronze circlet for the night. Functional, but beautiful all the same, and her favorite formal wear from before the war, replicated down to the last stitch. Particularly interesting considering the Southern side of their family was why they were in this mess in the first place.

“You look wonderful.” Allura replied. “Did Keith compliment you yet? He tells me you helped him dress.”  
Lance flushed again. “ _What_ are you implying? I just helped him with the tunic and sash.”  
The other paladins began to trickle in, and Allura smirked at Lance again. Coran entered behind Shiro, and took in the sight of the other paladins, his eyes resting on Keith, then flicking over to Lance.

“Keith my boy, did you do your sash yourself?” He asked.  
“No, Lance did it for me. Why is everyone so concerned about my stupid sash?!” Keith demanded.  
Coran looked at Allura, who tried to hide her smirk. “Lance accidentally… indicated something…”  
“Did he make me look like an asshole?” Keith huffed, crossing his arms.

“I don’t know what that is.” Coran replied.  
“No, I don’t believe he did.” Allura smirked at her brother, not even trying to hide it now. “See Lance used what’s called a _royal_ knot, and because you’re not royalty as far as we know—” Lance suddenly and terribly remembered the significance of that knot, _and the fact that he had tied it onto Keith_.  
“Allura, stop!” Lance said. “Hahahaha, who’s ready to go?”

Shiro crossed his arms. “Lance, I can’t believe you would humiliate Keith.”  
“Who said I humiliated him?” Lance demanded. “He’s not the one getting smirked at by his sister.”  
“What did you do?” Keith growled.  
“It’s really not that important in the long run and _hey_ , today’s about Allura so we should all…” Lance gestured to the lions.

Pidge looked between them, then whispered something to Coran. He nodded, and they cackled loudly.  
“Pidge…” Hunk sighed.  
Keith scowled. “What does it mean, Lance? Why is Pidge laughing?”  
“Yeah, why are you laughing, Pidge? Not cool.” Lance whined.

“Keith, let it be. I promise Lance did not have any ill intent.” Allura patted his hand in a placating manner. “But we will be having tea soon.”  
Keith was by no means an idiot. He figured out rather quickly the link between ‘tea’ and the sash. “Oh.” He said in a small voice.  
Shiro laid a hand on his shoulder. “Do you want to change it? We still have time.”  
“N-no!” Keith said quickly. “It’s—it’s fine.”

Lance, who had been staring at the floor, snapped his head up to make eye contact with Keith.  
Pidge made an exasperated face at Hunk, and they both moved towards their lions.  
Coran gently pushed at Lance. “Come on, my lad. We only have so much time.”

“Haha, yeah, right…” One by one the lions took off and landed at the mound. The paladins, Allura, and Coran exited them. Coran handed Lance a box, and Lance withdrew the crown, before handing it back to Coran and climbing the mound. The lions rose into the air, and the Paladins (and assembled Arusians, who were already there) looked around in fear. The Black Lion picked up an enormous wind that whipped their hair and shirts. Keith was beginning to wish he had brought the cloak after all.

Sendak, Haxus, and Kurok peeked out of the bushes, but no one noticed them.  
Allura began to sprint towards the mound. Red was the first to act, sending a stream of fire into her path. Allura expertly dodged it, dancing to the side. Blue attacked next, and Allura narrowly side-stepped the ice. Yellow landed and raised a huge wall in Allura’s path, which she hurtled without breaking stride. Green aimed for Allura’s feet, and where she _would_ be, and nearly got her. Allura spun away at the last moment, using the resulting pile of vines as a sort of springboard. With that, she leapt onto the mound, nary a hair out of place.

“Show off.” Lance muttered as the Arusians, and the other paladins clapped. In the bushes, Haxus violently nudged Kurok for attempting it.  
Allura knelt in front of him, and Lance nestled the crown of Al on top of her intricate braids. It was larger than the coronets, and made of pure gold instead of the alloy used in his particular coronet. As such, even without the large blue gems, more like the night sky of Arus than the light blue of Lance’s coronet, it was incredibly heavy. Allura’s neck never wavered.

“Do you so swear by my blood and yours to lead and protect Altea?” Lance intoned.  
Allura stood. “So I swear.”  
“Do you swear by my blood and yours to rule justly and fairly?” Perhaps that was a bit more pointed than it needed to be. Allura’s eyes slid over to him, even if she continued to face the assembled crowd. “So I swear.”

“Do you swear to honor the old ways, yet find the new where necessary?”  
“So I swear.”  
“Do you swear to rule to the best of your ability?”  
“So I swear.” Allura walked to the edge of the mound. “I swear, by my blood and by the blood of my brother that I will rule like every king of Altea since Al and that I will uphold their values. I swear, by my blood and by the blood of my brother that I will fight until my last breath to keep any small part of Altea alive.”

Lance stepped to the side, ready to get down, but then realized Allura wasn’t done. This was diverging from the script that had been drilled into them since birth.  
“And, as queen of Altea, I swear to all of you on my blood that I will not rest until Altea has been avenged and Zarkon is gone. I swear that I will do whatever it takes to protect _everyone_ under my care.”  
The Arusians began to cheer, and the lions all opened their mouths. Lance realized that they had all landed in the shape of a pentagram, pointing at the mound. As one, they all shot something at the structure created by Blue and Red—but it wasn’t their elemental powers. It was their quintessence. A small amount, to be sure—they wouldn’t even miss it. But together, and focused by the structure by Blue and Red, the quintessence became a beacon.

Across every corner of the universe, beings with Altean blood began to intone, one by one, “Long live the Queen of Altea. Voltron is coming. Long live the queen.” Prince Lotor dropped to his knees, and vomited in a corner when he recovered. The druids tried to fight it but succumbed, one by one throughout their tasks.

Haggar was sequestered in her room.  
“Haggar?” Zarkon asked.  
Haggar didn’t turn to face him, even if he was the emperor. Even if his visits to her room had faded and lessened over time until now they were merely a formality.

“Haggar.” He said again, thoroughly unsettled.  
“Only a matter of quintants ago, I said _Alfor’s_ daughter lived. But she was Idras’. Idras’ children are alive.” Haggar sounded as though she was choking back tears. Zarkon shifted uneasily. He was under the impression that her tear ducts had atrophied several millennia ago.

“Idras was Alfor’s queen.” Zarkon pointed out.  
“Idras was our daughter first!” Haggar snarled. “And the only things left of her are Allura and Allances. …do you even remember what it was like? Before? Do you remember how we were there when Allura was born, how we held her and promised Idras we would always protect her? Do you remember _our_ daughter’s birth, Zarkon? Do you remember Idras at all?”

“No.” Zarkon admitted. “I don’t remember her.”  
Haggar scoffed. “Of course not. What do you want, anyway? It is not time for your infusion of quintessence.”  
“You… weren’t at dinner.” Zarkon said. “I… I suspected something might be wrong.”  
They stared at each other for a long minute.

“How?” Haggar finally asked. “How, after all this time, can you find it in your heart to care about others besides yourself?”  
Zarkon bristled. “How dare you, witch!”  
“What’s this? The powerful emperor Zarkon is upset because his _wife_ accused him of not feeling?” Haggar taunted. “A feeb ago you would have laughed at the idea.”

Zarkon ground his teeth. “I… I feel more… whole. With the Black Lion back in action. I need more though. I need the Black Lion itself.”  
“You have conquered scores of galaxies without Voltron.” Haggar scoffed.  
“Witch! Listen to me! I do not require _Voltron_ for _power_. I require _the Black Lion_ to make me feel… whole. I do not know any other way to describe it. The quintessence you have provided me with drags me deeper into a quagmire of-of being a monster.”

“It’s corrupted.” Haggar replied, watching him warily. “We’ve all been turned into monsters with it. From what I always understood, Voltron ran on a much purer quintessence.”  
“Then I need that.” Zarkon replied. “I need to be whole again.”  
“And then what? Am I to believe that you will simply become the man I married again? That the problem all along lay in the corrupted quintessence that sustained you since Elcmanus?” Haggar demanded. “We are all monsters, Zarkon. Or at least we would have thought so once. Now I no longer care.”

“But something has changed.” Zarkon insisted. “You are clinging tightly to your grandchildren, I am clinging to Voltron… we _know_ that before we wouldn’t have approved of who we are now. What we are not.”  
Haggar rolled her eyes. “I haven’t exactly forgotten. Everyday I look around and I wonder to myself what it would have been like if I had just let you die out there. If I had stopped giving you quintessence. It wouldn’t bring Idras back, but at least the three of us—you, me, Lotor—could have all died the way we came into this world. Don’t you wonder about that?”

“I don’t have your history, witch.” Zarkon huffed. “I _will_ capture Voltron, and you may broach whatever subject you wish then. Until that time comes, collect yourself.”  
Haggar closed her eyes. “Well would you look at that. It’s all passed. I’ll see you in several vargas.”  
“Do you _dare_ to presume to dismiss me, witch?” Zarkon growled, grabbing her wrist. “Do not forget that I am your emperor.”  
Haggar yanked her wrist away. “Do not forget that I have the power to end you where you stand. We are alike in this respect. Now leave, before I destroy you and have my son become Emperor of the Galra in your stead.”

Meanwhile, in the newly formed (yet unnamed—they were working on it, don’t be rude!) rebel faction on the moon of Bulatar several of those with Altean blood stretching back through generations collapsed onto the ground into a kneel, chanting the same words. The local medic was quickly fetched.  
“I have never seen anything like this before.” Dr. Samuel Holt helped some people into more comfortable positions so that they would not hurt themselves. “They’re not convulsing, and this sort of mass chanting… you’ve never encountered this sort of thing before?”

One who had been spared the Altean blood shook his head. “No, The Samuel. This is not what we do.”  
“Is it a Galra trick?” Someone else asked.  
“No, I don’t think so.” Samuel Holt muttered. “It doesn’t mention Zarkon. What’s Voltron?”  
“A child’s tale.” The first one waved him off. “Same as Altea.”

The one who had questioned it scuttled over. “Kleetnad! Altea was the first place that Zarkon destroyed! Voltron could destroy him! It is a message of hope!”  
“How will Altea bring us hope, Falcrav?” Kleetnad demanded.  
“Because if they’re the ones sending this message, then they survived. So can we.” Samuel interjected, before helping people up as they recovered.

No one was hurt by this, except a few children who had thrown themselves into it too exuberantly and had scraped their knees.  
Their parents brought them to Samuel’s ‘clinic’. In reality it was a room, underground like most of the base. It was stocked with whatever cures were available, as well as many notebooks of Samuel’s, ranging from sketches to notes to help him with his patients’ alien physiology, and things he wanted to remember. Matt’s jokes. Katie’s favorite references. Colleen’s pet names.

Today, though, he didn’t need to consult his notes. He got disinfectant out and spread it over the children’s knees. “Now, don’t run too hard.” He smiled at them.  
“The Samuel, can you bandage my child so that ze does not accidentally open their wounds?” One of the parents asked.

Samuel sighed. “Sorry, Jetr said we needed to conserve resources. Perhaps ze can study instead?” He smiled at the child, and they stuck their tongue out. Samuel laughed and rubbed the top of their head. Their parent carried them away, and a shadow darkened Samuel’s stairway.

“The Samuel, I have heard of the incident regarding the chanting in the courtyard.” Jetr, the leader of the faction, said imperiously. He wasn’t altogether willing to share why he was here with the rebels, but he was fairer than the Garrison, and he took Samuel’s advice seriously, though he perhaps treated Samuel as inferior for being a subordinate.

“Hello, Jetr.” Samuel raised a hand in greeting. “Yes, it was incredibly fascinating. I’ve never seen anything like it. Falcrav and Kleetnad and I were discussing it—we think Altea may be back, along with Voltron.”  
Jetr leaned against the wall. “This is good news, The Samuel. Very good news. Voltron could help us defeat the Galra once and for all. If the Alteans are resurfacing, they have a plan. Falcrav is already trying to trace the signal, but it is hard.”

“You came to me for advice?” Samuel guessed.  
“I… if we make contact with the Alteans, I want you to speak to them. You have a very easy air about you, The Samuel.”  
“Jetr, I am flattered, but I have no experience with diplomacy. That was more my wife’s affair.” So Colleen had said, at least. Samuel had always suspected there was a bit more to his wife than an ambassador.

“The Samuel, this is not about _diplomacy_. You make everyone comfortable with you. Your presence is very calming.” Jetr sniffed, annoyed. “And we would not send you alone. Kleetnad would go with you. Xhe is good at diplomacy.”  
Samuel personally thought that was debatable, but nodded. “Jetr, I have a few questions though. Firstly, how will we be the ones that Voltron makes an alliance with? There are rebel groups all over the place. The Blade of Marmora has been around longer than Zarkon. What makes us stand out?”

“…The Samuel, you make a good point. I will return to you when I have a good answer.” Putting something off was Jetr’s way of admitting defeat. “What is another question?”  
“Well, if we _were_ to contact Voltron… what would we call ourselves?” Samuel asked.  
Jetr’s ears dropped against his skull in annoyance. “The Samuel, this is not funny.”

“Jetr, I’m not joking.”  
Jetr scoffed loudly, then stomped over to one of Samuel’s notebooks. He flipped through it for a minute, before holding something up and pointing to it. “The Samuel, what does this say?”  
“Uh…” Samuel adjusted his glasses. “Making jokes about Matt or me being Buzz Lightyear of Star Command.”

Jetr nodded slowly. “The Matt is right out, as is Buzz Lightyear. We are not a lightyear, The Samuel. However, I like ‘Star Command’. It makes us sound powerful. We will be ‘Star Command’, The Samuel. Does this please you?”  
Samuel grinned. “You know what, Jetr? It does. It reminds me of my children.”  
Jetr nodded stiffly. “Thank you, The Samuel. Farewell now.”  
Samuel waved. “Bye, Jetr.” As soon as he was alone, he returned to the drawing of his family that he was working on. He had Matt down—he’d spent nine months with him, after all. He had a picture of Colleen and the dog from early on in their marriage that made drawing them both easy, even after all this time. The only one he had a problem with was Katie. Most of the time she turned out a lot like Matt, which was fair, but still. He was worried that he was beginning to forget his daughter.

Said daughter was currently dancing with all of their teammates together in some sort of Altean circular dance that involved a lot of spinning, and was laughing her head off. All of the paladins, Allura and Coran, and even the Arusians had returned to the castle to celebrate. Finally they broke away, Pidge still spinning like a top on her own. A small voice in her mind reminded her of her family though. Matt would have loved the Altean customs. Her dad would have so many questions. How could she forget?

Meanwhile, Lance was finally able to take his first sip of nunvil.  
“Now Allances, I’ve been saving this one for your birthday, but a bit never hurt anyone.” Coran’s eyes twinkled, and Lance took a sip. “It’s… strong…” He ground out.  
“Indeed! I got a particularly potent vintage!” Coran beamed at him.  
Lance nodded. “You can really taste it…”

“Oh, what does it taste like?” Hunk asked.  
“No no no…” Lance winced as Hunk’s face looked green. He valiantly swallowed it. “That tasted like hot dog water and _feet_.”  
Coran smiled and nodded. “Yes! Nunvil only became popular when religious pilgrims attempted to imitate Al, who accidentally created some by letting some juniberries from the north go bad. He was forced to drink it as he trekked across the desert to the South. They say he arrived with the best hair ever seen to this day.”

Hunk held the nunvil at arm’s length. “Fascinating…”  
“Yes! I always keep the castle well stocked in case we need some hydration.” Coran twirled his moustache, before moving on.  
“You know the only thing worse than nunvil?” Lance made a face.  
“There’s something worse?” Hunk stared at the cup, unconvinced.

“ _Hot_ nunvil.” Lance whispered. “They used to serve it that way. People threw up if they only smelled it.”  
“How is this meant to be hydrating if no one can keep it down?” Hunk asked.  
“Eh.” Lance shrugged. “I mean, if you’re Al himself, it doesn’t matter. You can overcome everything—including hot nunvil.”  
“I mean I guess…” Hunk began to wander towards where Shiro and Keith were talking. Lance followed, apparently under the impression that they were going to wander around.

“So, guys, Lance was just telling me some fascinating stuff about Altean culture.” Hunk said. “What were you guys talking about?”  
“I… may not have told Shiro about getting kicked out of the Garrison.” Keith admitted.  
“We’ll talk about this later, I’m going on patrol. Those Galra could still be out there.” Shiro handed his mostly full nunvil to Keith.

“You make it sound like there’s more than one.” Lance said.  
Shiro grimaced, and left.  
“Where’s Pidge? I’m going to go find them.” Hunk handed his extra nunvil to Lance before moving through the crowd.

Lance and Keith stared at each other.  
“So.” Lance said.  
“So.” Keith parroted.  
“I… didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. With the sash. I just… I always tie my own that way and…”  
“Oh! Yeah, yeah, it’s… it’s okay.” Keith was looking at the ceiling now. “Um, you were great up there. When your sister did the thing.”

“That wasn’t part of it.” Lance said. “I don’t know _what_ that was.”  
“Oh, really?” Keith looked away from the ceiling. “…do you think it could end up biting us in the ass? Like giving away our position?”  
“The Galra already know where we are.” Lance pointed out. “And Zarkon will just target Arus.”  
“I guess.” Keith made the mistake of sipping his nunvil, and nearly spat it out all over Lance. Unfortunately, a nearby Arusian was the recipient instead.

“What _was_ that?” Keith demanded, all but scratching at his tongue. “That tasted like piss!”  
“Nunvil.” Lance replied. “And yep, that sounds accurate. Don’t know what that is, but again, accurate.”  
Keith sighed. “When we get back to Earth eventually, I’m going to introduce you to sorbet.”  
“Sorbet?” Lance asked. “What’s that?”

“It’s a frozen sweet thing, but it doesn’t have dairy.” Keith tried to explain. “It’s good, you’d like it.”  
“It sounds like juniberry ice.” Lance smiled, before it wavered. “Keith, would you excuse me? I think there’s something in my eye.”  
“Oh, of course Lance.” Keith shifted awkwardly, and Lance practically fled, discarding the cups of nunvil along the way. Coran noticed, and followed.

In the pod bay, Hunk found Pidge and Rover, her robot they’d recovered from the _Na’dir_.  
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, _what are you doing_?” Hunk asked.  
“I need to find my family.” Pidge scowled at him. “I’ve wasted enough time.”  
“Okay, okay, I just have some questions. Like, what are you going to eat?” Hunk asked.

“I took some food goo.”  
“Pidge, that’s going to leak.” Hunk peered at their bag. “And what if you didn’t bring enough?”  
Pidge threw their bag into the pod. “Next question.”  
“Alright, what are you going to do when you find your family? That pod can’t get you back to Earth. It can’t create wormholes.”

“Next question.” Pidge hissed.  
“Where are you going to look?” Hunk continued.  
“I found some information. It’s not too outdated.”  
“So you don’t have anything concrete. Okay. Why aren’t you in your regular clothes?”  
Pidge sighed. “Honestly, I was planning on coming back, if you haven’t found a green paladin to replace me.”

Hunk shook his head. “Okay. Even if the lions could just pick up replacement paladins like batteries, how were you planning on piloting this thing? We’ve seen that the lions are semi-sentient, and Yellow at least sort of tells me what to do. I’m guessing Green is the same, because you were a communications officer back at the Garrison.”  
Pidge glared at him. “I can fly this thing just fine!”

Hunk shrugged. “Okay. Next question. Why didn’t you trust us to help you?”  
“I need to find my family, Hunk! Everyone else is focused on fighting Zarkon—”  
“No, that’s what _Allura_ is focused on. The rest of us get it, we want to see our families too. You said your family was on the Kerberos mission? Then Shiro will want to help you find them just as much. Lance and Allura lost their dad, and if anyone separated them like that there’d be hell to pay. Keith lost his brother to Kerberos too, he’d probably be a wreck if Shiro was still gone. Coran and I certainly aren’t going to stand in the way of you finding your family.” Hunk crossed his arms. “At least think it through better.”

“Every day I wait, my family could be sick, or injured or in danger!” Pidge hissed. “How do you think I’ll feel, if they die right before I get there?”  
Hunk cocked his head. “Okay. I see your point. But what about your mom? What if she gets in a car crash or something? What if someone breaks into your house and there’s an altercation and she dies right before you get back?”

Pidge glared at him. “Hunk, my mom is a suburban white lady in a relatively affluent area of America. My brother and father were captured by the Galra. Don’t compare the two.”  
“You’re right, you’re right.” Hunk held up his hands in surrender. “But tell me how that pod is faster than Allura or Lance opening up a wormhole.”  
Pidge glared at him, and began tapping their fingers against the side of the pod. “You’re not going to let this go, are you?”

“Nah. Not until you come up with some good answers for me.” Hunk replied.  
“My family is out there. Is that a good enough answer?”  
“It’s not a well-thought out one. That pod won’t get you far even if you hot-wire it. You’d have to be rescued before your family. You’d waste a lot of precious time by going in that thing instead of talking to Lance and Allura.”

Pidge adjusted their glasses. There was a moment of silence, then they climbed out of the pod.  
“Don’t… tell Shiro. Please.”  
“No problem.” Hunk gave them a hug. “Now let’s go find the others before Shiro has to talk to Allura alone and ends up telling her every secret he has ever had.”  
“What, like his social security number?” Pidge snickered.

Hunk shrugged as they walked back towards the ballroom. “I was thinking more embarrassing stuff from when he was a kid.”  
“Oh, I know some.” Pidge smirked, pushing their glasses up. “Our families were –are—close. It’s part of why he was chosen for Kerberos—Dad and Matt knew him and trusted him more than any of the other pilots we know, with _one_ exception…”

On Earth, the one exception straightened her hat in the mirror one last time before stepping out of her bedroom. Her husband was sitting at the kitchen table with a mostly cold cup of coffee, pictures of ancient pueblo towns strewn over the table.

He looked up abruptly. “Sakura, you’re wearing your uniform to pick up Keith?”  
General Sakura Shirogane shot him a sharp look. “I’m wearing my uniform to pick up our son and tell Iverson he’s never coming back.”  
Akira Shirogane sighed. “Sakura, keeping Keith on the ground won’t bring Takashi back. You _know_ this.”

Sakura scowled at her husband. “I am well aware of that, Akira. But keeping Keith safe will ensure that we don’t lose both of our sons.”  
Akira folded his hands underneath his chin. “And why don’t you fly anymore, Sakura? You barely leave the house.”  
She balled her hands into fists at her side. “You…”

Akira tried to take a sip of his coffee, then realized it was empty and moved to put it in the sink. “Sakura, the counselor said we needed to talk to one another. We’re both hurting.”  
“But it’s not _your_ fault.” She said, digging her nails into her palm. She had _promised_ herself she wasn’t going to cry. “You’re not the one who pushed Takashi into a career in flying. You’re not the one who sent him to the Garrison.”

Akira moved to embrace his wife. “Sakura… what happened to our eldest wasn’t your fault. Takashi loved flying, ever since he was a baby. Remember? He’d cry on commercial flights because they didn’t make sonic booms the way your fighter jet did? He would have applied for the Garrison anyway. He would have been _chosen_ anyway.”

Sakura allowed herself to embrace him back. “Our sons…”  
“Chose their own path. I… I’ve made peace with Takashi’s death as best I could. He’s out there among the stars, where he wanted to be.” A tear fell from Akira’s eyes into Sakura’s greying hair.  
“I always thought you had just accepted it, forgotten that he deserved better.” She admitted.  
“I know. But I can’t lose you either. …On a lighter note, let’s go pick up Keith for the summer.”

They boarded a hover train to the desert, and within a few hours arrived at the Garrison International Academy of Flight. Parents and students were milling about everywhere, but moved immediately when they saw the infamous General Shirogane. Iverson began walking towards them.

“Colin.” Sakura said by way of greeting. She adjusted her sunglasses so that he couldn’t see her red eyes.  
“Sakura.” Iverson shook her hand firmly. If he noticed the reason for the sunglasses he didn’t say. “Didn’t know you were the gloating type.”  
Akira grimaced as the air between them immediately turned frosty.

“Gloat?” Sakura asked, dangerously calm.  
“Yeah—didn’t you have your kid get himself kicked out after I told you I wouldn’t let you pull him? Aren’t you here to talk about how I lost Keith as one of the best pilots in the program?” Iverson asked.  
“You _lost_ my baby?!” Sakura demanded.

“Colin, this is the first we’re hearing about Keith’s expulsion.” Akira said, though Iverson could tell that the relatively mild mannered archaeologist was about to punch him. “We came here today to pick him up, and then pull him from the program.”  
“You didn’t hear from your kid for nearly a year and assumed everything was alright?” Iverson asked incredulously.  
“We assumed he was grieving for Takashi.” Sakura spat. “Now where is our son?!”

“…last I heard, the kid was in the desert. The night of the… crash… there were reports of a kid with a mullet being involved. He had a red jacket and a red speeder.” Iverson admitted. “That’s all I can tell you right now.”  
“My old shack.” Akira said. “The one I use for archaeological missions is nearby. Keith must have been living there.”  
“Where is he now?!” Sakura hissed. “Where is our son?”

“Sakura, I don’t _know_.” Iverson growled, before turning away. “I’ll see what I can find.”  
Akira held Sakura back. “Keith could still be at the shack in the desert.”  
Someone tapped him on the shoulder. “I doubt that. Want to see what I’ve found?”  
Akira and Sakura both relaxed at hearing the voice and followed them to a secluded area.

Colleen Holt took a deep breath. “Firstly, I have footage you’re going to want to see of the night someone crashed to Earth. After you watch it, I want you two to help me to bring them all home. Every single one—Takashi, Keith, Sam, Matt, and Katie.”  
“What happened to Katie?” Akira asked.  
Colleen pursed her lips and shrugged, then pulled out a laptop. “Same thing that happened to Keith, I think.”

Hours later, the Shiroganes and Colleen Holt stepped into the cave of the Blue Lion, having finally gone to Keith’s shack and used his triangulated coordinates. Akira Shirogane pulled out a pair of glasses, and frowned at the carvings. “These markings… they’re obviously thousands of years old.”  
“Keith’s notes corroborated this.” Sakura agreed.  
“Yes, I know, and it’s good that he remembered what I taught him.” Akira replied. “But in no way do they match the carvings of Native Americans from the area. I don’t think they match anything I’ve ever seen.”  
Colleen shone a light on a discarded… it looked like a coffin, and a gaping hole in the floor. “I think we’re going to find a lot more we’ve never seen.”

On Arus, Allura joined Shiro on his patrol. “It’s a nice night tonight.”  
“It is.” Shiro agreed. “Your coronation was lovely.”  
She smiled. “Thank you, Shiro. It was mostly due to Lance and his efforts, though.” She looked up at the sky. “The stars are lovely tonight.”

“Not as lovely as you.” Shiro blurted out.  
Allura smiled. “That’s so sweet of you to say. You’re quite handsome yourself.”  
In the bushes, Haxus rolled his eyes. Hopefully the small one would come out with their droid and spare him having to listen to this saccharine nonsense. The Champion was staying far too still for the Princess to even _consider_ mating with him, and was an odd shade of red. Maybe he was dying?

“Th-thank you, Princ—Queen? Your Majesty?”  
“Just Allura is fine.” She assured him. “You don’t weigh Lance down with honorifics, after all.”  
“Yes, but it’s different with him.” Shiro leaned away as Allura leaned closer. “Oh? Different how?”

Haxus gagged in the bushes. Nasty Alteans. This wasn’t the way to do things. Thankfully, Haxus’ prayers came true and the small one, their droid, and the large one who had danced with him appeared from the doorway.  
“Allura, I need to talk to you!” Pidge nearly broke into a run.  
Shiro and Allura jumped away from each other. “I—yes! Sorry! Please don’t tell my brother.” Allura nearly begged.

“Uh… okay… whatever.” Pidge said. “Is this some Altean thing?”  
“Yes—and I honestly don’t know Shiro well enough for Lance to begin marriage talks—” Allura began.  
Hunk held up a hand to interrupt her. “Is this about that thing you keep trying to chase Keith down over?”  
“That’s different. To protect my brother’s honor, I need to open talks. Keith has apparently already gotten… _physical_ with him.” Allura gestured vaguely.

Shiro’s head snapped towards her so fast that he nearly gave himself whiplash. “Keith did _what_?!”  
“Wow, that was fast.” Pidge noted. “I didn’t think they had it in ‘em.”  
“I am almost certain that Alteans have different cultural values than us and that we have a different understanding of ‘physical’. Given how casual everyone has been about Lance and Keith, I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess that by Altean standards, they’re kind of already dating, but they don’t need to get married right this very second.”

Allura shook her head. “No, you’re correct, Hunk. But in the same vein, I need to speak to Keith soon about his intentions before he and Lance go too far and dishonor is brought upon our entire family.”  
Pidge adjusted their glasses. “And what exactly would that entail?”  
“Oh, Lance would receive the status of royal bastard as opposed to prince, and he would be stripped of every title he has, including Paladin. There is a possibility that we’d have to leave him on a non-hostile planet.” Allura stated calmly.

Haxus quickly scanned the droid while everyone stared at Allura in shock, and made his escape.  
“You’d maroon your brother for having pre-marital sex?” Hunk asked, blinking slowly. “Did I hear that right?”  
“No. I never said sex—that is a natural part of life.” Allura waved him off. “He and Keith could have sex right now and there would be no consequences. However, there are… _other_ things. If you’ll excuse me.” With that, she took her leave, and the paladins slowly looked at each other.

“Let’s go find Keith.” Shiro finally said.  
Keith was, in fact, morosely drinking nunvil. All day, he had somehow messed up with Lance. It was no wonder he didn’t want to spend any time with him—all Keith did was get angry at him.  
“Keith, are you alright?” Shiro asked, appearing out of nowhere.  
“Why can’t I be nice to Lance?” Keith sniffled. “Is it because he’s so cute? He has no right being that cute, Takashi. And then he talks and ruins it, but sometimes it just makes him cuter. No human being should be that cute.”

Pidge raised an eyebrow. “Technically he’s not human.”  
Keith took another swig of nunvil. “Listen. Listen. Sometimes I just—I just wanna… I just wanna kiss him. To make him shush. But I _can’t_ because he wouldn’t like it. And then he’d hate me, if he doesn’t already.” Keith gave a rather sad hiccup, and Hunk patted his back.   
“Okay, no more nunvil for you.” Shiro took away Keith’s glass.

“ _No_ I need it.” Keith groaned.  
“What you _need_ is a glass of water.” Shiro replied. “We don’t know how much alcohol is in this.”  
“I’m just buzzed.” Keith made a jump for the nunvil, but Shiro easily held it over his head and pushed Keith back gently with his metal arm.  
“You’re clearly more than ‘buzzed’ if you are willing to drink _that_.” Hunk replied. “Where’s Lance?”  
“He ran off.” Keith sniffled. “After I made him sad. Coran went to go talk to him.”

Indeed, nearly thirty doboshes prior, Coran had gone to the crystal room to talk to Lance. Lance was sitting cross-legged on the floor, a map of Altea’s solar system open in front of him.  
“Mind if I sit with you?” Coran asked.  
Lance moved over a little, and Coran sat. “It’s worse for Allura, isn’t it? I shouldn’t…” He wiped at his eyes, and Coran put an arm over his shoulder. “Allances, please. Your pain isn’t lesser just because you were here at the castle with me for so long instead of on Altea with her. I also feel the pain of losing Altea, and my family.”

Lance wiped his eyes again. “I know I shouldn’t complain, I know I have Father’s memories uploaded and I can still talk to him, but it’s not really the same.”  
Coran nodded slowly. “I know. I know, and I’m sorry. I also know you’re not just grieving for him, are you? You’re also grieving for your grandparents, because you’ll have to fight them now. And the people we knew, the time that’s passed…”

Lance hugged himself. “And Mother.”  
Coran nodded slowly. “And Queen Idras. Allances, it’s okay to feel sorrow at losing them. I’d be worried if you didn’t. Please, though, don’t let it consume you.”  
Lance moved to embrace Coran instead of himself. “Thank you, Coran.”  
“Do you want to go to your room? I’ll tell the others you weren’t feeling well.” Coran suggested.

“No, I… it’s alright. I won’t ruin Allura’s day.” Lance smiled weakly.  
“I’m not worried about Allura, I’m worried about you.” Coran pointed out.  
Lance stood, and cracked his back. “I’m fine. Thanks for coming in to talk to me. It’s… I feel better, knowing I’m not alone.”  
“Of course, Lance.” Coran smiled. “I’d love to talk about Altea any time you want.”

Lance smiled back, and they walked towards the exit. A droid identical to Rover flew past them.  
“Greetings, Rover!” Coran called jovially.  
Lance slowly turned. “Wait, where’s Pidge…?”  
The droid flew past them. Lance’s eyes widened. “Oh no… Coran, get down!”

He tackled Coran as the droid hit the crystal and exploded, pushing him out of the way.  
“Allances!” Coran screamed. The other paladins came running as Coran desperately tried to wake Lance up.  
“What happened?” Allura demanded. “Where’s my brother?”  
“He’s alive, thank Al.” Coran said. “But he’s in critical danger—he didn’t have his armor on.” Blood seeped through Lance’s formal wear to Coran’s hand.  
“We can’t access the pods if the crystal’s gone.” Allura exclaimed in alarm.

“Hang on, hang on. We’re going to get through this. Does anyone have any first aid training to help stem the flow of Lance’s blood?” Shiro asked. “That’s our priority right now.”  
Pidge looked at Hunk, who looked back at them.  
“Engineers know how to fix things.” Pidge said.  
“Communications Officers work with people!” Hunk huffed.

Shiro sighed loudly, then ripped his shirt sleeves off. “You’re both lucky I picked some stuff up from Dr. Holt over the course of nine months.” He pushed Lance’s shirt up, revealing deep wounds on his back. “From what I can see it missed major organs and arteries. The real problem is that head wound.”  
Allura looked at Coran. “Should I try to heal him with quintessence?”

“Well…” Coran looked at Lance.  
“Should I try to heal my brother here and now?!” Allura demanded. “I can’t lose him, Coran! I need you to tell me if you think—”  
“Flushing Lance with quintessence isn’t going to help him.” Coran snapped. “The only thing we can do is try to get the castle back online. For now, that means getting a crystal from a Balmera.”

“But all the lions are locked safely away.” Allura growled. “How the _quiznak_ are we supposed to get a Balmeran crystal in time to save my brother?!”  
“Uh…” Pidge cleared their throat. “The pod bay doors are open.”  
“Why?” Allura asked.  
“Uh….”  
“Never mind.” Allura closed her eyes in thought. “Hunk, Coran, go find the nearest Balmera and bring back a crystal. Shiro, we need to defend the outer wall—”

“Your Majesty!” The chief of the Arusians waddled up. “Our village is on fire!”  
Allura thought for a second, then nodded. “I need to distract myself from what’s happened to my brother. Shiro, will you accompany me?”   
“Of course, Allura. Pidge, stay here and watch Keith and Lance.”

Pidge saluted him, then glanced at Keith who was passed out in the corner. “Leave me with the unconscious guys.”  
“Don’t draw inappropriate things on them.” Shiro ordered.  
“Lance is on the verge of death.” Pidge replied. “How heartless do you think I am?”

“I mostly meant Keith, but do what you can for Lance. The prin—the _queen_ and I will be back soon.” Shiro said.  
Pidge sat down on the floor. Time seemed to slow to a crawl, then Pidge heard noise below. She stood up, and walked out of the ruins of the room, only to come face to face with the friendly Galra outside.

“What are you doing here?!” He hissed. “You’re supposed to be in the village!”  
“Lance is in trouble!” Pidge hissed back. “Why are we whispering?”

“You have to get out of here. If Sendak finds you, it won’t go well for you at all.” Kurok whispered.  
“I’m not leaving Lance, and Keith is unconscious too!”  
“Leave the prince, he’s valuable! Sendak and Haxus won’t hurt him further. Get the other one out of here!” Kurok huffed.

Pidge nodded once, then dragged Keith around the corner just before Sendak and Haxus came along.  
“Kurok, excellent job. The castle was empty.” Sendak said, before noticing Lance. “Oh, _quiznak._ ”  
“We can fix this!” Haxus said quickly. “And if he’s a bit damaged, a bit… _quieter_ , shall we say, will anyone mind?”  
“Haggar. Haggar will mind.” Kurok said. “This doesn’t sit well with me, Sendak. He’s just a boy.”  
“We’ll blame the other paladins.” Sendak waved him off. “Kurok, Haxus, get the crystal.”  
This was Pidge’s cue, so she dragged Keith down to her room. When power returned to the castle, she entered, propped Keith up on  his side on her bed, and changed into her armor. “Allura?” She whispered into her helmet.

“Pidge! They’ve activated the particle barrier.” Allura said into the helmet via radio. “I fear that they’re going to take off soon. Where is Lance?”  
“I… I… what do I need to do?” Pidge asked, ignoring the question.  
“You need to override the sequence manually. Can you do that for me?” Allura asked.  
“Alright, but you’re going to need to walk me through it.” Pidge replied.

In the control room, Sendak stretched for a moment, checked that Lance was safely out of sight, and contacted Emperor Zarkon. Unfortunately, said Emperor was unavailable for whatever reason. The only one in the throne room was a vaguely ill-looking Prince Lotor.

“Where is the Emperor?” Sendak demanded.  
Lotor fixed him with an annoyed glare. “He’s busy. He and Mother are having one of their tiffs. If it’s urgent, I can pass along a message.”  
“Of course it’s urgent! I’ve been stranded on this backwater planet…” Sendak took a deep breath and collected himself as Lotor raised an eyebrow.

“Forgive me, Your Highness. I simply called to tell the Emperor that we have captured the Castle of the Lions, as well as Voltron.” Sendak said, remembering his breathing exercises.  
Lotor rolled his eyes. “Sendak, why do you assume I care about Voltron? I mean, it has some sentimental value regarding my sister’s son, but—”

“Prince Allances was captured along with the castle.” Sendak interrupted.  
Lotor sat up straight, eyes wide. “You’re not lying to me, are you?”  
“No sir.” Sendak resisted the urge to sneer. “Prince Allances is currently indisposed, but he is in the castle.”  
“ _Excellent_. You will be rewarded for returning him to us, Sendak.”  
“I will also be rewarded for bringing Voltron back to your father.”

“Shut up. They’re just a bunch of stupid robotic lions. No one gives a quiznak about them.” Lotor snapped, before smiling. “Now, treat my nephew well. I want him in perfect condition by the time you get back to Galaris.”  
“You want us to go all the way to Galaris?” Sendak demanded.  
Lotor sighed. “Fine, the main station. Whatever. I have to get things ready for Allances’ arrival.”  
Then he narrowed his eyes. “If my beloved nephew isn’t returned unharmed, Sendak, I’ll kill every single member of your family while you watch. Is that clear?”  
“Crystal.” Sendak spat. “Vrepit Sa, Prince Lotor.”  
“Vrepit Sa.” Lotor replied disinterestedly, cutting the connection.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Headcanon that Coran dyes his hair.


	6. Pidge and Keith, partners in Crime

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Listen I understand that this is short compared to the behemoth of last chapter. This is largely because I have no pacing, and I decided that Hunk's narrative would not be changed (deepest apologies Hunk). 
> 
> Second-- Keith and Allura were effectively trapped outside together all night in the episode. You just _know_ they didn't actually talk. Shiro, however, is not just going to stand there. He is going to communicate, because he's in a better place than Keith when it comes to dealing with other people.

Allura screamed in frustration. “I’m so _tired_ of not being able to do anything! I couldn’t find Grandfather, I couldn’t save Mother, I couldn’t help Altea, I couldn’t stop my father from dying… and now I can’t help my little brother when he needs me!”   
“Calm down, my brother’s in there too.” Shiro said, pursing his lips in thought. “And I know what it’s like to feel helpless.”   
“Oh, I didn’t mean…” Allura cleared her throat. “Sorry for the outburst.”

“It’s really fine, I’d do the same if Keith was injured like Lance.” Shiro gave a small smile. “It’s all up to Pidge now.”   
“Pidge is a baby and four hexcrons tall!” Allura exclaimed.   
“Hey!” Pidge said over the radio. “I am _fourteen_! Also, I’m in the engine room.”

“What’s happening?” Shiro asked.   
“Pidge has gotten to the engine room without incident.” Allura explained. “Now, Pidge, pull the switch labeled alamarain…”   
“Which one is that?” Pidge demanded. “I can’t read Altean!”   
The ship’s engines began to fire up, and Allura and Shiro stepped back a tiny bit out of reflex. Pidge’s voice over the radio became scrambled.

“No! They’re taking the kids!” Shiro ran forward, arm lighting up, but it could not harm the particle barrier.   
Suddenly the ship powered down, and dropped roughly to the ground again, sending a tremor that knocked Shiro and Allura into one another.   
“The main engine… Pidge must have gotten it!” Allura hugged Shiro tightly. “Now, Pidge, can you hear me?”

“Yep.” Pidge’s voice had a strange echo to it. “Hey, weird question, why are your vents so big?”   
“To be used as a possible escape route. Now, you need to take down the particle barrier so we can get back in.” Allura laid out her plan.

In the command center, Sendak covered his good eye in exasperation. “How do we have a saboteur on board? Kurok, did you see anyone?”   
“No, sir.” Kurok responded hastily.   
Sendak huffed. “Clearly they are a master of stealth. We must proceed with caution—they have already outsmarted us and we do not have the advantage of large numbers, given that there are really only three of us.”

Haxus perked up. “Sir! I’ve found a transmission from inside the castle!”   
Allura’s voice played. “Now here’s what you need to do…”   
“Got it.” Pidge answered.

Lance stirred a little at the sound of Allura’s voice, but ultimately did not wake up.

Sendak cracked his neck. “Very well. Kurok, go hunt down the intruder. Haxus, get the engine back online.”   
Kurok winced, but nodded. Haxus smirked at him, and they filed out together.

In Pidge’s room, Keith finally woke up with a splitting headache. Nunvil apparently wore off quicker than the beer his idiot roommate at the Garrison used to sneak. He stumbled across the hall to his own room, and changed into his armor before flopping on his bed and trying not to think too hard.

The Red Paladin’s room was hot, placed directly over the engine room as sort of a cooling place. The bed was king-sized, and the sheets were nice, but the room was not as luxurious as the Black Paladin’s room. On the ceiling, images of a white star, probably Altea’s sun, whirled in conjunction with three moons. The Red Paladin’s room had a variety of weaponry, and its own gladiator, but it also split into another room, with two child-sized beds and various toys. The Red Paladin’s room was the most sparse after Allura and Lance had been through it, but it also strangely reminded Keith of home. The floor had been worn down by years of feet pattering over it, just like the Shirogane household, and other small odds and ends of life stuck out. The left behind toys, the well-loved quilt on the bed, smells of coffee and detergent occasionally wafting out of odd places…

Lance had once told him that the Red Paladin’s room never really gave anything up, and Keith could believe that. He also believed it was probably the most haunted room in the castle.   
“Keith!” Pidge stuck their head out of the floor and nearly scared him half to death.   
“Pidge! I was musing about ghosts, don’t sneak up on me like that!” Keith growled.   
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Listen, the castle’s been taken over by Galra, and I need to get down to the generator room.” Pidge climbed out of the floor and the path to the engine room, accompanied by Rover.

“And what do you need me to do?” Keith asked.   
“Act as a bodyguard, basically. Grab your helmet.” Pidge ordered.   
Keith complied, then followed her into the chute leading to the engine room. They stopped at the end of the hall leading into the generator room, where a Galra was waiting with a gun. Keith noticed that he looked vaguely uncomfortable.

“I’ll distract him, and you come in from the side.” Keith whispered.   
Pidge rolled their eyes. “Or, I come in with my super cool awesome plan. Watch this.” She stepped out from behind the pillar they were behind. “Hey!”   
“Pidge!” Keith hissed.

The Galra sighed loudly. “Paladin, I was _really_ hoping the message was a fakeout. Sendak has ordered me to kill you.”   
“If you were gonna kill me, you’d have done so already.” Pidge pointed out. “And what message?”   
“Sendak intercepted your communication with the Altean princess.” The Galra hissed. “He knows you’re here.”

“What about my friend?” Pidge asked.   
“The Altean Prince?” The Galra looked even more uncomfortable. “For a very bizarre reason, Sendak is refusing to let me move him to the Altean healing chambers. He likely believes that the prince will be easier to handle in this state of near death.”

Keith jumped out of his hiding place. “And where is Lance now?!”   
The Galra slowly blinked at him. “Oh, you meant _that_ friend. Well, he recovered quickly. And to answer your questions; no, Sendak doesn't know _he's_ here. As for the Altean prince, he is in the command room with Sendak. I suggest letting him be until you have a better plan.”   
“Lance is _dying_!” Pidge hissed.   
Kurok shouldered his weapon. “Listen, Sendak will never kill him, and he will never let him die. The two of _you_ are not nearly so valuable. If you go charging in there, he will murder you in cold blood, and leave your bodies as trophies for the Champion and the Princess to find. I can try to help you get him, but we need a better plan than simply charging in, weapons blazing.”

“Keith has a sword.” Pidge pointed out.   
“Don’t tell him that!” Keith hissed.   
The Galra sighed loudly. “You don’t even have a ranged weapon? What were you going to do?”   
“Look, are you going to help us or not?!” Keith demanded.

The Galra nodded once. “Green Paladin, go in. Work quickly, and get out. Red Paladin, come with me. I will remove the Prince from the room, and you must take him.”   
“Wait, Sendak won’t hurt him further, right?” Pidge asked.   
“The Prince is quite valuable to the Witch Haggar and Prince Lotor.” The Galra replied. “But Sendak wants him somewhere he can be watched. With you scurrying around, he won’t let him out of the command room.”

Keith gnashed his teeth. “So how would _you_ help?”   
“There is more to healing technology than the Altean chambers.” The Galra pointed out. “Haxus and I are trained in field and battle medicine for emergencies. Your friend will not die tonight, Red Paladin.”   
“He’s not my friend, he’s my boyfriend!” Keith hissed.   
Pidge threw her hands up in the air. “You decided to admit this _now_?!”

“What… no, I just assumed he said boyfriend, because everyone assumes—” Keith flushed. “It doesn’t matter!”   
“Keith, we do not have time for you to come to terms with your sexuality!” Pidge pinched the bridge of her nose. “Let’s work on disabling the particle barrier so Allura and Shiro can get in and help us save Lance. Right now, we are the equivalent of Mario in that cave level at the beginning. Lance is at the very last level of the game. I need you _here_ , in case Haxus or someone else comes in. Understand? ”

“Your metaphor is convoluted, but _fine_.” Keith snapped. “Let’s go get this over with.”   
Pidge and Keith immediately stepped into a terrifying room full of purple lightning.   
“Is… is this because of the Galra?” Keith asked.   
Pidge shrugged.   
“Don’t touch the energy arcs!” Allura ordered. “They are incredibly dangerous—they’d fry you like a Lumerian moth in an instant!”

“We weren’t planning to, but sure. Don’t touch the lightning bolts of death.” Pidge said.   
“Now, what you need to do is…” Allura was cut off by Pidge screaming in alarm.   
“Pidge! Hang on, I’ll handle this.” Keith huffed into the coms.

“Keith, don’t!” Pidge hissed. “You brought a knife to a gun party—”   
“It’s okay, I have an idea!” Keith insisted into the helmet. Allura vaguely heard him run out (after someone else?) but then there was the squeal of the radio equipment coming in contact with the energy barriers.

“Keith!” Allura screamed. “Pidge, Pidge come in!” There was only feedback. Allura covered her mouth in horror.   
“What’s wrong?” Shiro asked, eyes wide. “What happened to Keith?!”   
“He… I think he hit the energy arcs.” Allura replied, so quiet he barely heard her.   
Shiro grabbed her shoulders. “What does that _mean_ , Allura?! What happened to my brother?!”   
She shook her head slowly, covering her mouth. Tears threatened to spill over.

He held her tightly. “Allura, you need to tell me!”   
“He didn’t scream.” She said softly. “He didn’t scream when he hit the energy arcs. Maybe-maybe they killed him before he hit them…”   
Shiro released her and backed away. “Wh-what are you saying? Keith’s not _dead_.”   
Allura slowly looked up at him, tears in her eyes. “Shiro... I’m so sorry.”   
“No. No! He’s not dead, he can’t be! Not after all this! Not after so much!” Shiro powered up his arm again and struck the castle barrier. “I DID NOT COME ALL THIS WAY FOR YOU TO FUCKING KILL MY BABY BROTHER!”

Allura took a deep breath. Keith was dead, Pidge was likely also dead, and Lance was unconscious. All that’s left were… the mice! She tried to contact them telepathically, ordering them to do what Keith and Pidge could not.

Inside the castle, the mice obeyed, and scampered down to the generator room to chew on cables. Nearby, Pidge glared at Keith. “You’re an idiot, and you lost your helmet.”   
“It got us through, didn’t it?” Keith demanded.   
“Oh, _sure_ … except for the part where you almost died, you idiot.” Pidge huffed. “C’mon, let’s get out of here before they come to investigate the _deafening squeal_ from your radio that took mine out.”

Keith rolled his eyes, but followed her and Rover up to a ventilation shaft, the mutilated bodies of the droids left behind. “So, what’s the plan?”   
“I don’t know.” Pidge huffed. “Why do you assume I know?”   
“You kind of took charge.” Keith pointed out. “And I _assumed_ you and Allura had talked out what you needed to do while I was unconscious!”

“…I took charge because I feel like I let you guys down at the Garrison.” Pidge admitted. “Even if it was just a short time, I wasn’t there for Hunk when he wanted us all to properly bond, and I wasn’t there to help you not get yourself kicked out.”   
“You didn’t control that. And yeah, you were a dick to Hunk, but Hunk is one of the most emotionally stable people I know. He gets when people are under stress like that, and it’s not like I was any better.” Keith pointed out.

Pidge frowned, and shimmied forward. “Yeah, but you got kicked out. I didn’t.”   
“Pidge, has it occurred to you yet that we’re fundamentally different people?” Keith asked. “I got kicked out because they wouldn’t tell me anything. You played the long game. Your mom probably knows exactly where you are, my parents don’t even know I got kicked out.”   
Pidge snorted. “Keith, the Garrison lets out May 13th. It lets out stupid early. It’s May 14th back home. Trust me, they know.”

“You know what? On second thought, just leave me to the Galra.” Keith said. “Maurice Sendak or whatever his name is will offer a quicker death than Mom.”   
“…did… did you just call the commander of the Galra a children’s book author?” Pidge asked.   
“Little Bear was the shit when I was three.” Keith huffed.   
“Oh my God. By trying to be all cool like you’ve forgotten the Galra dude’s name, you just made yourself seem like a giant nerd. Classic.” Pidge cackled.

On Earth, Sakura Shirogane stood on the porch of the Garrett House and rang the doorbell again. Akira looked around. “Maybe no one’s home…?”   
“We didn’t fly all the way out to Samoa for no one to be home, Akira.” Sakura replied. It wasn’t a biting reply, it simply did not brook room for argument.   
Akira crossed his arms. “I’m not one of the boys, Sakura. And perhaps they’re… away from the moment. So the memories…” He trailed off at the look his wife was giving him. She had nearly become agoraphobic in her grief, and to her it was incomprehensible that others wouldn’t react the same way.

Akira sighed. Sometimes arguing with her or Keith was like arguing with a brick wall. The door opened, startling him. In the doorway was a tall, dark-skinned woman. She was thickly built, and Akira briefly wondered if she was a bodybuilder. “Who are you?” She asked.

Sakura didn’t flinch at all. “General Sakura Shirogane. Is this the residence of Masina and Teuila Garrett?”   
The woman eyed Sakura carefully. “You’re with the military? What do you want—you already took my son.”   
“Officially, I am part of the Air Force. Unofficially, I am here as the mother of Takashi and Keith Shirogane. Colleen Holt, mother of Pidge Gunderson, recently contacted us.”   
The woman in the doorway shifted her gaze from Sakura to Akira and back again, before letting them in. She sat them down at a kitchen table with a checkered cloth. “Can I get you anything—coffee, tea?” She asked.

“No thank you.” Sakura replied.   
“What kind of tea do you have?” Akira asked.   
The woman smiled a tiny bit. “Herbal, black, and berry.”   
“Oh, may I have the berry please?” Akira asked.

The woman nodded, and turned the electric kettle on. Then she exited the room. Akira and Sakura sat in silence for a few minutes. The kettle whistled, and Akira reached over to turn it off. The woman then returned, pushing a wheelchair. In said wheelchair was another woman with long, braided black hair, and smile lines all over her face. “Hello, I’m Masina Garrett, and this is my wife Teuila. …you said that you have information about our son Iosefa?”

Sakura nodded briskly as Teuila poured Akira his tea, then passed Masina a cup. “Yes. I know that you have no reason to believe me, but we have reason to believe that your son is alive.”   
Teuila nearly dropped the cup of tea in shock, while Masina smiled. “Oh, I believe you. It’s easier to tell us our baby’s alive than dead.”   
“I know what that’s like.” Akira added.

Sakura nodded, then pulled out her laptop, and loaded the security footage Colleen had provided them with. “Your son _is_ seen at the scene of the crash, but he is also seen being fully conscious. He rescued my eldest son, with the help of my youngest and the individual known as Pidge Gunderson.”   
Masina and Teuila watched the footage.

“So, the Garrison lied. This hardly surprises me—the question is, where is Iosefa now?” Teuila asked.   
Akira leaned forward and Sakura leaned back. “I… our working theory at the moment is that the students somehow decided to leave the planet, though we don’t exactly know why. We assume it has something to do with Takashi. The Garrison also filmed a strange spacecraft—Sakura?”

Sakura obligingly played the next clip of an enormous robotic lion flying over the Garrison then breaking through the atmosphere.   
“We discovered that the kids made plans to go where the lion was more or less buried. When we investigated, we found no recent remains. It makes sense that your son was on the lion.” Akira continued.   
Teuila’s face was unreadable. Masina squeezed her hand. “What do you want us to do?”

“What?” Sakura asked.   
“We know you’re not from here, you’re probably not even from American Samoa.” Masina continued softly. “You’re probably not even from Guam, it’s mostly naval bases, and I've talked to Colonel Iverson enough to know someone in the air force when I see them. So, why did you come all the way out here?”   
Sakura took a deep breath. “You… you’ve heard of the Kerberos disaster a year ago, correct?”   
“Of course.” Teuila replied.

“Our son—our eldest son—was on it.” Sakura said. “And I couldn’t let anyone else go through that.”   
Akira wrapped an arm around her shoulder, and she leaned into him.   
“Alright. So, what _can_ we do to bring Iosefa home?” Masina asked. “We’re… we’re not that rich, but we’ll do whatever we can.”   
Akira shrugged, careful not to dislodge Sakura. “Honestly, we don’t know yet. Colleen Holt seems to be the mastermind behind everything, and she’s more Sakura’s friend.”

“Colleen Holt is likely amassing a network with which to infiltrate the top levels of the government with.” Sakura replied.   
Masina giggled, and Sakura shook her head slowly. “I wasn’t joking.”   
“Why is she trying to take down the government?” Teuila asked, quirking an eyebrow.  
“Not take it down—gain enough information and influence to know what we can about where our children went and why, such as whatever Voltron is.” Sakura tapped the laptop. “And to get Earth ready for the children, or… or the aliens that Takashi mentioned.”

“So again, what can we do?”   
“I don’t know yet.” Sakura said.   
“When we have more evidence to convince the public, we’re going to take a stand against the Garrison.” Akira pointed out. “But we’ll update you with whatever Colleen tells us when the time comes.”

Masina nodded, and Teuila gave a small smile. “Thank you. Both of you, for telling us that Iosefa is still alive.”   
Sakura smiled back. “No problem. Here is our contact information if you need us. …may we have yours?”   
Masina laughed. “Oh, dear. I’m so sorry, it’s just… you came all the way out here because you didn’t know our emails? Even the Garrison sent us a cursory email when they told us… when they lied about Iosefa.”   
Akira grinned. “Shiroganes don’t do things halfway.”

Speaking of which, Shiro had crumpled to his knees, exhausted. Tears were still running down the side of his face.   
Allura sat next to him. “I am so sorry. I can’t imagine how you must be feeling.”   
“Imagine if Lance were dead. Now imagine if it were real. _That_ is how I’m feeling.”

Allura accepted the comment, understanding that Shiro was speaking from a place of hurt. “Shiro… _Takashi_ … there was nothing that you could have done.”   
She wrapped her arms around him, and he situated her so that it was a better hug. They stayed that way for a long while, before Shiro murmured, “I’m going to kill every Galra inside that castle.”

“That’s fair.” Allura replied. “But, think for a minute. Don’t let the Galra turn you into the killer that they wanted you to be in the Arena.”   
“They _murdered_ my _brother_.”   
“And they destroyed my planet! But neither Altea nor Keith died in vain. We _will_ have our vengeance. But they will not die cruel deaths at our hands, alright? Keith didn’t scream, and neither will they.” Allura looked into his eyes, squeezing his shoulder gently to keep his attention on her.

“I… I want them to, though.” Shiro admitted softly.   
“I know. I know—I do too. But we are not like them. We are better than them. We are _stronger_ than them. And we will _not_ let them break us.”

As for Keith and Pidge, they were spying on Haxus. Pidge had the controls to the barrier open on her own screen, and raised them. It was previously agreed that as Keith had the stronger jetpack, he’d use that to prevent the electric shock. Pidge raised the levels, gave the signal, and Keith nodded, jetting across the room to the other side of the barrier, touching down after the signal shocked the room. Pidge, meanwhile, floated down on Rover—right into Haxus’ line of sight.

“You _cannot_ be serious.” Haxus said. “There’s another quiznaking Paladin running around? And this one is a _kit_?!”   
“What do you mean, _another_?” Pidge demanded.   
Haxus calmly approached. “Kurok was ordered to kill the saboteur. Lo and behold, he killed the Red Paladin, or so he said. Probably just tripped and fell into the energy arcs himself—Red Paladins aren’t exactly known for their intelligence. Oh? Don’t like me insulting your little friend?”

Pidge’s eyes flicked to Keith, who shook his head. Haxus whipped his head around, and saw only the enormous ball of energy. He turned back to Pidge, drawing a sword. “Now, now, little kit. Come with me, and perhaps I’ll give you a quick death, mm? Not that I could tell, but I don’t think the Red Paladin screamed. Don’t you want a death like that?”   
“Thrown into giant purple lightning bolts? How could I resist?” Pidge snarked. Keith began to make his way towards them.

“You’d rather a painful death?” Haxus scoffed.   
“I don’t know, man. You seem to be wrong about a lot of things. For example…” Pidge headbutted Haxus quite hard in the stomach. “I’m not a kid.”   
Haxus was pushed back slightly, and grimaced. However, he did not seem very affected overall. “Foolish _child_ , I am a soldier of the Galra Empire. Only death or success will stop me!” He raised his sword. “Vrepit Sa!”

Pidge raised her bayard in anticipation, then stared as Haxus stilled. Keith peeked out from behind him, sword pressed to the back of Haxus' neck. “So, surrender?”   
“The Red Paladin lives… of _course_ Kurok couldn’t do something so simple…” Then Haxus scowled. “Kurok is a liar, and a traitor to the Galra Empire. And once I am finished with the two of you, I will destroy him.”   
Pidge slammed her bayard into Haxus’ face, effectively electrocuting him.

“You talk too much.” She hissed.   
Unfortunately, he fell back into Keith, and Keith pushed him back to the side reflexively. Keith dropped his bayard, and a disoriented Haxus fell from the platform.   
“Did… did I just kill a man?” Keith asked.   
Pidge peered over the side. Haxus was barely hanging on.

“Do you want to surrender?” Pidge asked.   
Haxus bared his teeth. “Death before dishonor, little kit.” With that, he let go completely, having apparently already lost his sword.   
Pidge stood, and clapped her hand on Keith’s shoulder. “Good news. We did not kill a man. We just witnessed his unnecessary suicide.”

Keith blinked at her for a moment. “If you become a serial killer when we get back to Earth, I will talk about this incident on the news.”   
Pidge shrugged. “That’s fair.”   
Sendak called on the console. “Haxus? Where are you? How is your progress?”

After a few futile moments of pointing at one another, Pidge cleared her throat and tried to imitate Haxus. “Uh… um… almost done, Commander Sendak.”   
“Almost done? Haxus, every minute we waste, the Altean Princess and the Champion have more time to try to get in!”   
“I know, I know, I just…” Pidge cleared her throat again to imitate Haxus. “I’m in love with you, Commander Sendak.”

Keith smacked his forehead.   
“I panicked!” Pidge mouthed at him.   
In the background on Sendak's side, Kurok said loudly, “Wait, what?”   
Sendak sighed. “Haxus… we promised we would never speak of that night again. I can never return your feelings—I have a wife and child back on Galaris. Your feelings for me, my acting callously on those feelings… it was before Alrya. I am sorry that I led you on, Haxus.”

“Wait, _what_?!” Kurok repeated in the background. “You and Haxus actually…?”   
“Stop eavesdropping, Kurok!” Sendak ordered.

“Sorry, sorry!” Kurok said.   
Keith pushed Pidge to the side and cleared his throat. “Um… but Commander Sendak, you know that as a true Galra, I will only accept success or death.”   
“Are you speaking of insubordination, Haxus?” Sendak asked.   
“Uh… yes! I am!”

“Then you will die.” Sendak said.   
“Isn’t that a bit harsh?” Kurok asked in the background. “It’s not as though Haxus can help his feelings.”   
“Kurok, shut up! Haxus has made himself a threat!” Sendak hissed.   
“Haxus sounds _different_ though.” Kurok said. Both Pidge and Keith stiffened. Kurok continued. “It seems that Haxus has found the Alteans’ liquor and has gotten completely drunk.”

“That-that is exactly what has happened, Kurok, you great friend.” Pidge said in her Haxus-voice.   
“That seems likely. Haxus hates you, he would never call you friend, Kurok.” Sendak noted. “Haxus, clean yourself up and report to the bridge.”   
“Roger, Commander.” Keith said in his best impression of Haxus. Sendak hung up, and Keith and Pidge both groaned.

“Why the hell did you tell Sendak we’re in love with him!?” Keith demanded.   
“I didn’t! I said _Haxus_ was in love with him!” Pidge hissed. “And I _panicked_! I didn’t expect it to actually have a basis in reality!”   
“Well, at least they don’t know we’re here.” Keith said. “Your… weird Galra friend… actually came through. Whether or not he was just trying to save his own skin, we’ll see.”

Pidge punched his shoulder. “Don’t be mean to my buddy Kurok.”   
“Just wait until Allura gets back.” Keith huffed.   
Meanwhile, the mice had brought down the particle barrier. Allura dragged Shiro into the Black Paladin’s room. “You need to get into your armor—you can’t… I don’t want to see you hurt.”

Shiro nodded solemnly. “It wasn’t your fault, you know.”   
“What?” Allura asked, caught off-guard.   
“We’ve been in close quarters for roughly a month, Allura. I know you’re blaming yourself for what’s happened to Keith and Lance. Probably think it’s because they didn’t have their armor.” He ceased undressing to make eye contact with her. “Trust me, out of everyone I blame for this, you’re not on the list.”

Allura’s inner reaction to a shirtless Shiro was much like Lance’s to a shirtless Keith. However, Allura was an adult woman, and not given to ogling men who she was not in a relationship with, handsome as they may be. She turned around.   
“Sorry.” Shiro said sheepishly. “I… I was indecent.”   
“No, the fault is mine.” Allura said. She most certainly did not squeak, because squeaking is not regal, and she did not blush. Blushing is also not regal. Shiro finished changing, and they left the room, not making eye contact.

Pidge and Keith were somewhat ahead of them. On the count of three, they snuck into the control room. Sendak noticed them, of course. “Did you think your trick would work on me?” He laughed.   
“Well, you certainly believed they were Haxus.” Kurok muttered.   
“What was that?” Sendak demanded.   
“Nothing, nothing!” Kurok replied hastily, as he edged over to Lance holding a syringe behind his back.

While Sendak was distracted, Keith and Pidge both rushed him. He swatted them away easily. Keith got hurt more than Pidge, being helmetless. However, he stood, picked up his bayard despite swaying slightly, and prepared himself for Sendak’s attack. Kurok had made his way over to Lance, and injected the syringe into him.

Sendak picked Pidge up in his huge fist as Shiro and Allura burst in.   
“Pidge!” Shiro yelled.   
Sendak cackled maniacally. “It’s too late for you, Paladins—”   
A shot ran out. Pidge fell to the floor, cracking their helmet. Sendak’s arm began to warp and short out, as apparently, Lance had hit a crucial part of the arm’s mechanics with his bayard. Keith then darted forward and sliced the hand off from the rest of the arm, and Shiro kicked Sendak into the crystal area. Allura then erected the barrier around it.

“Keith! You’re alive!” Shiro exclaimed happily. He promptly tried to pull Keith into a hug.  
Keith expertly dodged him to get to Lance. “Lance! You’re okay!”   
Shiro stared. “Um? Excuse me? What am I, chopped liver?”

Keith ignored him.   
Lance smiled up at him dreamily, then muttered something in Altean. Keith smiled back, then looked at Allura. “What does, ‘Ha tyt yd. Ha ela e juud daen.’ Mean?”   
“Roughly translated, he said, ‘we did it. We make a good team.’” Allura replied, before moving to take Lance from Keith. Keith held him tightly. “No, I’ll take him to the infirmary. I need to go anyway.”

“Dude, we know you have a thing for Lance being unconscious, but be cool, alright?” Pidge said.   
Keith glared at them. “I don’t have a thing for Lance being unconscious!”   
“I dunno, man. You’re the one who almost kissed him in the cave.”   
“Because you told me to!” Keith growled, before hefting Lance in his arms in a bridal carry and stalking out.

Pidge adjusted their glasses, then looked at the motionless Kurok. “Hey, back me up here. Did he, or did he not, say that Lance was his boyfriend?”   
“He did.” Kurok said calmly.   
With his good arm, Sendak banged on the barrier. “Kurok! Kill the Altean!”   
Kurok looked at him, then at Allura. “Um… instead, if I surrender now, can I not be in the same cell as Sendak?”

“We’ll consider it.” Allura said frostily. “Though it honestly wouldn’t matter to me if he ripped you to pieces.”   
Kurok sighed, and held his wrists out. “Fair enough. …you don’t need to torture me, by the way. I’m happy to talk.”   
Sendak let out a wail of agony. “You _idiot_! You _traitor_! Have you not a scrap of loyalty?!”

“Not really, no.” Kurok replied. “At least, not to you. You’re needlessly cruel to me. And, others, really.”   
“Because you’re an idiot!” Sendak shrieked.   
Kurok shrugged.   
“Allura, let’s escort him to a cell now. Like you said, we won’t let them make us monsters like them, right?” Shiro said.

Allura nodded slowly. “You’re right. But… _dear Al_ , I want to rip his head off!”   
“And that’s justified. I, personally, really want to kill Sendak.” Shiro shrugged. “But what matters is that we’re the bigger people, and we don’t act on it.”   
Pidge and Kurok locked eyes, and shrugged.

“Just you wait until Haxus gets here!” Sendak snarled. “I have a subordinate just as devoted as your Black Paladin, _Altean_!”   
“Yeah, nah, Haxus is dead.” Pidge said. “It was a combination of Keith killing him and him committing suicide. Death before dishonor, and all that. Side note, did you just compare Shiro and Allura to you and Haxus? Because Keith and I literally impersonated Haxus’ love confession and you just went with it.”

“And you expect me to believe that the Black Paladin and the Altean are not lovers?” Sendak scoffed.   
Pidge nodded slowly. “You know what, you gotta point there, Crazypants. However, in terms of Shiroganes coming to terms with their feelings, Keith pulls ahead with the unprompted quote, ‘he’s not my friend, he’s my boyfriend’. Iconic.”

Shiro gave a small laugh. “Let’s… get our prisoners to the brig, and call it a night.”   
“Do we have a brig? Or a dungeon?” Pidge asked Allura.   
“Of course.” Allura scowled at Sendak. “It should be filled with rats, especially after ten thousand years.”   
Kurok consented to Pidge using her bayard to incapacitate him, and Shiro lit up his hand and kept it near Sendak’s neck. The Galra went into their cells with no fuss, and the doors were locked tightly to Allura’s retinal scan behind them, courtesy of Allura working the controls from the helm.

The door closed behind Pidge, and Kurok and Sendak were left in the dark.   
“Kurok, when I get out of here, I’m going to strangle you.” Sendak hissed.   
Kurok made a humming noise that signaled he was humoring his commander. “Whatever makes you feel better, Sendak.”

Meanwhile, Hunk and Coran had returned with a crystal.   
“Hey guys, we’re back… oh, you already have one.” Hunk eyed the Galra crystal in the control room. “That’s cool, not like we risked our lives or anything.”   
“That’s a corrupted crystal.” Coran twirled his moustache. “You can tell because all the lights are now purple even though they weren’t designed that way. Purple’s evil.”

“Uh huh. And beyond the purple, what’s the problem with a corrupted crystal?” Hunk asked.   
Coran shrugged.   
Shiro smiled. “Thank you for going to get it, guys. It’s always good to have a backup, as we learned tonight. Did you have any trouble?”

“Yeah, but first…” Hunk turned to Pidge. “Did you modify that pod?”   
Pidge nodded. “Added an invisibility cloak, reverse-engineered from that maze thing, and a booster on the fuel line.”   
“That could have blown us up!” Coran said.   
“ _But_ it came in handy, and saved our lives. I owe you one little buddy.” Hunk held out his fist for Pidge to bump. “Where’s Keith?”

“He’s in a healing pod.” Shiro said. “ _Safe_.”   
Hunk shot him a confused look. “Uh… okay… what did we miss?”   
Pidge stroked a non-existent beard. “Very important things. Lance basically confessed his love to Keith, and Keith said they were dating.”   
“Also we thought Keith died.” Allura pointed out. “Which you have yet to explain.”

“Also the big bad Galra thought Shiro and Allura were ‘lovers’.” Pidge made air quotes. “I need another single person or two around who isn’t my buddy Kurok, currently resting in the dungeon.”   
Allura made a face, but obviously resolved that it could wait until morning. The Paladins, Allura, and Coran filed off to bed as the sun began to rise on Arus. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I felt bad about the lack of Hunk, so have some Hunk moms. (Yes, I know that homosexuality is technically illegal in Samoa, but this is the ~future~ so I'm taking creative license.)


	7. Step into the hall with the Shiroganes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the thing with Allura is my bad attempt to write the wrongs of the #NotAllGalra thing between her and Keith in Season 2;

The next morning, Allura was the first one up. Coran was snoring away in his room, the prisoners were both fast asleep, and presumably the non-injured Paladins were out as well. According to the cameras, they weren’t in the common areas, so she proceeded to the infirmary to check on her brother and Keith after throwing on a dressing gown for common decency.

To her surprise, Shiro was sitting in front of Keith’s pod in full armor, glancing up at him occasionally from a data pad where he appeared to be playing a game. Allura knocked on the door gently, and Shiro jumped. He smiled sheepishly when he saw that it was her. “Allura, hi.”  
“Hello.” She smiled back. “I’ll be honest, I didn’t think anyone else was up this early, especially after the night we’ve had.”

Shiro looked at Keith. “I couldn’t sleep.”  
Somehow, Allura doubted that Keith was the sole reason for this, but didn’t press the issue. “Would you like me to get a readout on that pad so we can see how long Keith will be in there?”  
Shiro’s face lit up. “Would you? I didn’t want to leave in case he woke up while I was gone.”  
Allura nodded. “I understand. May I?”  
Shiro passed her the pad, and Allura pointed it at Keith’s pod, before typing in the commands.

In a tick, Keith’s information appeared in Altean, starting with his genetic makeup.  
Allura stared at it in shock, then looked at Keith. Her gaze then shifted to Shiro, who was watching her anxiously. “What? Is he okay?”  
“Nothing, nothing.” She promised quickly. “He just… he’s less injured than I thought. He should be out in roughly three vargas. If you’ll excuse me, I just remembered that I have urgent business to attend to.” She more or less threw the pad at Shiro, and walked quickly back to her room.

Allura drew a shuddering breath, leaning back against her door. Keith was half Galra, and as his brother, Shiro likely was too. Pidge was _friends_ with one of the soldiers who had attacked them. Her own brother was the grandson of Zarkon. It seemed at nearly every turn, she was surrounded by the enemy.

There was one person she could speak to about this. She took another breath, then ducked out of her room, down the hallway. She came to the room housing Alfor’s consciousness, and slipped inside, locking the door behind her. Alfor’s program fired up almost immediately.

“Allura, what’s wrong?” He asked.  
She laughed bitterly. “What isn’t wrong? Lance is unconscious, and there are Galra on board.”  
“What?!” Alfor demanded. “What happened to your brother?”  
Allura recounted the events of the previous night, then curled in upon herself. “And this morning, I found out that the Red Paladin is half Galra. His brother is the Black Paladin.”  
“Allura… not every Galra can be evil.” Alfor said.

Allura frowned at him. “I know that. But the pain I feel, the _panic_ over whether we will inevitably be betrayed again… that doesn’t just go away.”  
“Do you trust them?” Alfor asked.  
Allura sighed. “I don’t think that matters. Grandfather was like a father to you, and he was one of the people that Lance and I loved most in the world. Yet, he also murdered Mother in cold blood. You… imagine if one of the Paladins was secretly revealed to be part Drule, and they did not tell you themselves.”

“Allura, we were fighting a war against the Drule.”  
“So are we.”  
“No… Zarkon has done too much for it to simply be classified as a war.” Alfor’s face was stony. “But my point from earlier is that there is good and evil inside all of us. The Galra have been led to evil, but there were extenuating circumstances, at the beginning. No race is made of evil, perhaps your Red and Black Paladins will right the wrongs of previous Paladins.”

Allura ground her teeth. “Father, I don’t feel that you’re listening to me. The Galra killed you, Mother, and Altea. They nearly took Lance from us-- they refused him medical treatment to keep him easily managed. And yet, here are my Paladins-- befriending them, and secretly being Galra. How can I trust them, after everything they’ve done?”

Alfor’s image knelt. “Allura, I trust _you_ to make the right decision. You’ve always had a good head on your shoulders. If you do not trust your paladins, watch them carefully. The lions are not infallible. And you have a right to your pain-- just consider whether it’s vengeance, or violence that you want. While I would be concerned if you did not feel for Altea and our people, I’d be more concerned if you sacrificed Voltron in a misguided attempt to justify your hatred.”

“I wouldn’t do that.” Allura admitted. “And true, Keith and Shiro are not Grandfather. But I’m scared, Father. I’m scared that Lance will die, the same way that Mother did.”  
Alfor nodded sagely. “And that’s logical. Perhaps you should take measures to make sure that no Paladin can ever betray Voltron again. But the Galra boys…”  
Allura shook her head. “Is… is Mother’s AI still in the system?”

Alfor nodded. “Coran uploaded her during the funeral. She’s been asleep since I got here, but I can wake her up.”  
Allura nodded back. “Please do. And… does she know…?”  
Alfor smiled softly. “At this point, our AIs are intertwined. Together forever, even in death. I’ll go get her.”

In a minute, the juniberry fields, only found on the highest mountains of Altea, disappeared. They were replaced with a wooded glade, sunlight filtering through the trees. A brook babbled nearby. Allura’s breath hitched. The place her mother’s AI had chosen was on Galaris-- the Galra homeworld.

Alfor’s image disappeared, and Idras strode forth. Like Allura, she had curly white hair and pink translator crescents, as well as pink in her eyes alongside the blue. Like Lance, she had very sharp features, and a rather steep nose. Unlike both of them, Idras had shoulder-length, extraordinarily curly hair, and patches of purple near her hairline, in her eyes, and dappled across her skin, revealing her Galra heritage. Her armor was similar to Alfor’s-- she’d died in his armor, after all. But the cape was just impractical. 

“Allura.” Idras said simply.  
Allura ran and hugged her mother, her tears sliding down Idras’ armor. Idras ran a hand through Allura’s hair. “Now, now… we’re not truly gone. As for this business hating the Galra...”  
Allura pulled back to look at Idras.

Idras sighed. “I understand. And Alfor was right about you being entitled to your pain. I’m actually surprised he was able to handle it that diplomatically...” Allura giggled, and Idras gave a small smile.  
“So, you think I’m right not to trust the Black and Red Paladins?” Allura asked.  
Idras pursed her lips. “As hard as it may be for you to hear this, no. I don’t. What happened to me was because of an isolated incident. As far as I can tell, neither of them have visited Elcmanus soon. Castle records also show them looking remarkably human, especially compared to your uncle and I. By all means, confront them if need be. Don’t take the Black Paladin into your bed until you are entirely certain of their loyalty.”

“Mother!” Allura remarked, scandalized.  
Idras rolled her eyes. “What, you think I don’t know? I may have filled in for the Red Paladin, but I assure you I’m not a stereotype of one. You used to talk to your father about the Black Paladin in a very different way than you ever spoke about your grandfather or Tavrotine D’Elaas.”  
Allura’s translators began to glow in embarrassment. “ _Mother_.”

“My point is, watch them. But don’t condemn them until you know that they’re traitors. They’re Paladins, first and foremost. Blood is only secondary.” Idras patted her daughter on the cheek.  
“It’s not just that they’re Galra.” Allura admitted. “After you died, Grandmother… she wouldn’t hear a word against Grandfather. She is the reason this has gone on so long… I-I… I’m scared of becoming like her.”

“What do you mean?” Idras asked, frowning.  
“Grandmother fell in love with Grandfather when he was a good man, like Shiro is now. She stayed by his side through _everything_ \-- including when he killed you. I don’t want to become like her, willing to sacrifice everything, _everyone_ , for a man who no longer lives up to the title of Black Paladin.”  
Idras nodded slowly. “My parents have always loved each other desperately. It’s… not surprising that she’d take his side, she likely blamed Alfor for my death. And I know it’s terrifying to think of loving someone so completely.”

Allura grasped her mother’s hand. “Is there a way to avoid it?”  
“Don’t bring the Black Paladin into your bed?” Idras guessed. “I joke, I joke. The answer I was always given is that if you are truly meant to love someone like that, fate will bring you together.” Then she rolled her eyes. “Or a Red Paladin with far too much jealousy, that too.” Idras sobered. “The answer I’ve always accepted was that you forge your own path. If you don’t want the Black Paladin, or another who you would love with the same fervor as my parents, whoever it may be, then do not choose them. If you want to, choose someone who you are comfortable with, who you occasionally feel passion for, but it passes like a sandstorm in the summer. The choice is really yours, Allura. You’re the Queen now.”

Idras pressed a kiss to her daughter’s head. “And whatever you choose, we will be proud of you.”  
The room went dark. Allura pressed a fist to her mouth to muffle her sobs.

Pidge, of course, was not asleep. Pidge was assembling a router from odds and ends that she had scavenged. She plugged it in, and it lit up. She grinned. “Hey, Rover?”

Her droid beeped.  
Pidge sat down on her bed. It was really more like a pile of cushions, but she didn’t really care. Her room was really based on a platform above the door, made of wood and silk and more cushions. It reminded her of a treehouse, especially with all the rope and plants everywhere. Bookshelves overflowed in the corner on every subject imaginable. Thanks to Pidge herself, bits and pieces of metal were also scattered around the room. (Unfortunately, most of her projects were restricted to an unused hangar. According to Allura, Shiro, Coran, and even Hunk, they should not be in her room.)

“Okay, Rover-- start filming.”  
Rover beeped again.

Pidge took a deep breath, and fixed a smile to her face. “Hey Mom! Not sure what you’ve been told, but I’m not dead! Also, Matt and Dad aren’t dead either-- at least, they’re not dead on Kerberos. I haven’t exactly found them yet. But I will soon, don’t worry! You’re probably wondering where I am-- I’m in space! It’s a whole thing-- I’ll cover it in my next uh… episode? Yeah, episode. But trust me when I say that the work I’m doing here is really important, and I am fine-- I’m not in danger or anything. Rover, can you follow me?”

Pidge hopped off of her bed, and climbed down the platform to the door. She headed to the door, talking as she went. “So, I’m here with a few others-- Allura, she’s a kick-ass princess… wait, sorry, queen now. She’s also _really_ pretty, so Shiro has a huge crush on her. There’s her brother Lance, who’s a good brother. My dude Hunk from the Garrison, who is like a giant teddy bear. I love him to pieces.” Pidge opened the door to the kitchen, where Hunk was mixing something.

“Hunk! Speaking of. Hey, I’m making a video-- you want to say anything to the folks back home?”  
Hunk looked up from his mixing bowl. “Uh… is this like a ‘we died’ scenario, or ‘we’re alive, don’t sell our stuff’ scenario?”  
“We’re alive, don’t sell our stuff.” Pidge replied. “I made a router so we can post it on YouTube.”  
Hunk blinked in surprise, then turned to look at Rover. “Hey, Mom, Mama. I’m really sorry you had to find out this way, but I’m not dead? I’m actually fine, really. I’m helping to save the universe from a whole bunch of evil cat guys called Galra… it’s a lot to get into. Regardless, I’m sorry. I’m sorry I left you guys there without telling you. I’m sorry I left you with all the Garrison bills on top of Mama’s medical stuff. I’m sorry I can’t come back yet. Yesterday, I met this… girl, named Shay. Her people are enslaved, their planet is dying. I can’t just leave them there. The universe needs us-- needs _me_. I’ll be home soon though, and I’ll try to keep you regularly updated.”

Hunk wiped at his eyes.  
“So, whatcha making?” Pidge asked.  
“I’m trying to make a souffle.” Hunk answered. “I think I finally got the ingredients right.”  
“I mean, what you made last time was great.” Pidge pointed out. “The uh… the bread thing? That day that you taught that Galra to dance…?”

Hunk covered a smile. “I mean, don’t say it that way, but yeah. I think I know what you mean. That was mostly to help myself de-stress after the giant robot thing nearly curb-stomped us.” Too late, he remembered the camera, and turned to Rover. “Not-not that you need to worry! We’re all completely fine! Not even bruised from the incident!” 

Pidge nodded fervently as Rover turned to her. “Right! We even managed to capture some Galra… which I’ll go into… next episode.”  
Hunk gave her thumbs-up. “Anyway, I wanted to see if Arusian ingredients would correspond to Earth ingredients, and I wanted to challenge myself, see if I could make a _space_ hazelnut souffle. Check back in a little bit, and you can have some, okay?”  
Pidge saluted him. “Roger. Have you seen Shiro anywhere?”

Hunk nodded, picking up the mixing bowl again. “Last I saw him, he was in the infirmary, waiting for Keith to wake up.”  
Pidge winced, but walked out with Rover. “So, Keith is recuperating from a _minor_ injury in the future technology, so you don’t need to worry, General Shirogane.” She stifled a gulp, and continued. “It really only happened because he lost his helmet in a fight, because he was stupid, and this isn’t a regular occurrence.”

She made her way into the infirmary. Shiro looked up. “Pidge, you’re just in time. Keith is almost out.”  
“Are you playing alien Flappy Bird?” Pidge squinted at the pad in his hands from across the room.  
Shiro smiled sheepishly. “Yeah. I needed something to pass the time waiting for Keith, and this was the only Altean game I could understand.”

Pidge nodded sagely. “Cool. Well, I’m filming everyone to let our parents know we’re not dead. Do you have anything you want to say?”  
Shiro pointed at Rover. “That thing is on?”  
“Yeah.” Pidge replied. “Just… shoot.”

Shiro cleared his throat, and looked anywhere but at Rover. “Hi, Mom and Dad. I know it must really be a shock to see me. Um… surprise? I’m okay, really. I mean, I lost my arm at one point, but it’s okay because I like this prosthetic a lot, actually? I’m… I’m really sorry I couldn’t tell you in person. I’m sorry I couldn’t come home-- I’m back in space. This time is a lot less stressful, actually.” He grimaced here. “I… don’t know what you’ve heard about me, and what I’ve done, but… I’m sorry. I can’t...”

“What happened to you is nothing to be sorry over.” Pidge said firmly. “There was nothing you could have done-- the Galra were terrible to you.”  
Shiro smiled. “Thanks, Katie.”  
Pidge gave him a thumbs-up. “No problem. Do you want to continue?”  
Shiro nodded. “I’m going to come home, and I’m bringing Keith with me. Don’t worry, he won’t end up like me. I’ll keep him safe, no matter what.”

“In love with alien royalty?” Pidge asked. “Buff? Father figure to a bunch of teenagers? Level-headed?”  
Shiro laughed. “You know what I mean, Katie. I’m going to protect my baby brother.”  
“Eh… I mean, just like on Earth, Keith’s biggest problem seems to be himself. That guy really has it out for Keith.” Pidge pointed out.  
Keith’s pod hissed open as she said that, and Keith stumbled out. He then sat himself down on the stairs leading up to the pod. “ _Ugh_ , my head...”

Shiro moved to help him up. “Easy there, Keith. You okay? ...besides your head, I mean.”  
“Yeah, yeah, it’s passing...” Keith stood, then raised an eyebrow at Pidge and Rover. “What’re you doing here with your robot?”  
“Filming everyone so our parents know we’re not dead.” She replied.  
Keith’s eyes widened, and he looked like he was going to run. Shiro wrapped him up in a big bear hug before he could.

“Shiro! Let me go!” Keith whined.  
“Keith, can’t I hug my baby brother?” Shiro smirked. “Besides, you need to talk to Mom and Dad, _and_ you dodged my hug after I found out that you’re alive last night!”  
“I never implied I was dead!” Keith kicked out, but it was ineffective.

“Your helmet hit the energy arcs!” Shiro protested.  
“Giant bolts of lightning in this castle.” Pidge explained to the camera. “Keith’s helmet hit them due to a Keith-caused incident, having Shiro and Allura, who were locked out, believe that Keith had unfortunately died.”

Shiro finally released his brother, and Keith turned to face the camera. “Uh… hi, Mom and Dad. I don’t know what the others have told you, but I… I meant to tell you-- about getting kicked out. Not necessarily the space stuff. I’m not dead though, so that’s good.”  
“That’s a terrible apology!” Shiro huffed. “You got yourself _expelled_ , Keith! You lived in Dad’s archaeology shack for a year without telling anyone!”

“Well, I’m _sorry_ , okay?! I’m not like you-- the perfect son, the perfect pilot, the perfect _everything_!” Keith snapped, before his face crumpled in concern. “Shiro… I’m sorry.”  
Shiro waved him off. “It’s… fine. I know you’ve always had doubts about your place in the family compared to me, but you’re their son too. You need to talk to them, and right now, that means _apologizing_ to the camera.”

Keith glared at him, before looking at Rover again. “I… I’m sorry. For everything. And I miss you guys _so much_. I’ll bring Sh-- I’ll bring _Takashi_ back home safe. I won’t let them hurt him anymore.”  
“You two are so sweet.” Pidge commented. “Let’s take a look at Lance.”  
Pidge walked Rover over to Lance’s pod, and Keith joined them, staring up at him. He then put a hand on the glass, over where Lance’s hand was situated, before leaning his forehead against the glass and murmuring something in Japanese.

Pidge looked over to Shiro, who shrugged. “Give Keith some space. Oh, and can you check on the Princess-- _goddammit_ , can you check on the Queen for me? She came in earlier, but ran off like something was on fire.” Here he shot Keith a stern look.

“What are you looking at me like that for?” Keith demanded.  
Pidge slipped out, back to her room. She linked Rover to her laptop, cut the extraneous footage, and uploaded it to her YouTube channel.

Pidge’s signal went straight to the Internet, bouncing across the universe at the speed of light. The Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland was the first to pick it up. A lowly intern watched in astonishment as what appeared to be a little girl broadcasted from what seemed to be uncharted space. Then they forwarded the video to their supervisors, as well as a journalist, all with the relevant information.

Colleen Holt was the next to pick up the signal, her phone pinging with a YouTube notification. She frowned at it for interrupting, then her eyes widened at the tagline. “PidgeonHolt has uploaded a new video! ‘We’re Not Dead!’”

She clicked it, of course, and watched the whole thing through. Then she forwarded it to Sakura and Akira, who passed it on to Masina and Teuila. Then she settled in to watch it a second time, greedily drinking in the sight of her youngest child; whole, happy, _alive_. Then she forwarded it to Colonel Iverson out of spite. (Sakura and Teuila did the same thing.)

Pidge returned from lunch (Hunk’s souffle) to see several new comments on her video. Parents’ comments ranged from concern to love and support. General Sakura Shirogane seemed to have understandably crytyped. Colonel Iverson had also commented, telling Pidge to return to Earth immediately with the Shiroganes and Hunk Garrett. NASA seemed very concerned with how she’d done this. Every single one of them though; NASA, Iverson, both of the Shiroganes and both of the Garretts had subscribed as well as some other randos. A background check revealed that they seemed to be reporters. Huh. She’d do her next video after Lance woke up.

Meanwhile, Allura managed to successfully avoid the paladins for a few days, until the day that Lance was supposed to come out of the pod arrived. Keith had been camped out in the infirmary waiting for Lance, not that he’d admit it, so she was unable to do so herself. Quiznaking Keith. However, she smoothed her dress, steeled her spine, and stepped in, holding her head high.

“Hey, Allura.” Hunk said, fiddling with something alongside Coran and Pidge. It seemed so delicate in his large hands, but Allura had complete faith that he’d make whatever it was better than before.  
Shiro looked up from his pad, and smiled at her. For once, he wasn’t in full armor. “Hello, Allura. Are you okay? We haven’t seen you for the past few days.”

She nodded curtly. “Fine, thank you.”  
Shiro’s face fell, and he stood. He cleared his throat. “Can… can I speak with you? In the hall?”  
“Of course. What is this about?” She asked him.  
“Did I do something wrong?” Shiro asked. “I don’t know what I did, but I’m so sorry--”  
“You… you didn’t do anything.” Allura admitted, before sighing. “I suppose I can’t fault either of you for not telling us, since I did the same.”

“What are you talking about?” Shiro asked.  
“Keith is half-Galra, according to his genetic readout.” Allura replied. “That’s why I fled the other day. And Lance and I… our mother was half-Galra. I was entirely hypocritical, projecting my own self-loathing--”  
“Allura, stop.” Shiro said firmly. “Keith… Keith’s from _Earth_. He can’t be Galra!”  
“The readout doesn’t lie.” Allura said firmly. “And what about you?”

“What _about_ me?” Shiro replied.  
“Are you and Keith not brothers?” Allura frowned.  
Shiro sighed. “We are. But not by blood-- Keith was adopted.”  
Allura’s eyes lit up. “So you’re human.”  
“Yes. And Keith is too!” Shiro insisted. “Your machine read it wrong.”  
Allura frowned. “The readout doesn’t lie, Shiro.”  
“It’s ten thousand years old.” Shiro insisted. “Keith was the first human in one of those. They just read it wrong.”  
Allura laid a hand on his bicep. “Shiro. I know that this is hard to reconcile with your previous knowledge, but… Keith _is_ half-Galra. Whether or not he himself knows, I am uncertain. It’s… not the end of the world.”

Shiro frowned at her. “You shut yourself away from us when you thought I was half-Galra.”  
“I was wrong for doing that in particular.” Allura agreed. “However, the last Black Paladin, barring the trainee, was also Galra. And he killed my mother. The last Red Paladin, barring the trainee, died alongside the rest of my planet when the Galra attacked. I thought you of all people would understand.”

Shiro took a deep breath. “Allura, I’m afraid that I’m going to say something that I will later regret.”  
Allura swallowed, and stepped back. “Shiro… first and foremost, you will all always be my paladins.”  
Shiro paused. “I’m not upset because my brother is Galra. I mean, I am but-- it’s… it’s complicated right now. Let’s just talk about this later.”  
Allura nodded once. “Let’s return, I want to be there when my brother wakes up.”

As they stepped back inside, Lance’s screen dissolved and he stumbled forth into Keith’s arms. He blearily made eye contact with Keith, muttering, “My Red Paladin...”  
“Lance, how are you feeling?” Allura asked.  
Lance waved her off. “Fine, fine… I have to train.”

“Train?” Coran said in surprise. “What do you have to train for?”  
Lance frowned. “Tavrotine will make me train anyway. Better to go practice my shooting so I can take a break if I need to.”  
“What’s he saying?” Hunk asked. “Why are you talking about training?”

Swaying slightly, Lance made his way into the hall.  
Allura smacked her palm to her forehead. “Northern translators… he’s still in a fog from the pod. The sedative it administers has always taken a while to wear off with him.”  
“He wasn’t like this when we picked him up in the desert!” Keith said.  
“He wasn’t recovering from a head wound then. He wasn’t sick at all.” Allura huffed, before hiking up her skirts and chasing after her brother. The others quickly followed.

“Keith wasn’t like this either.” Pidge protested.  
“Keith’s not a hybrid, now is he?” Coran asked.  
Shiro and Allura made eye contact.  
“A hybrid? The hell do you mean, a hybrid?” Keith demanded.  
“I’ll tell you _after_ we make sure my brother’s fine.” Allura hissed.

Lance’s vision swam before him, and he closed his eyes. He never liked the pods. Fumbling, he found his bayard tucked into the same cabinet it was always in when he got hurt. Good-- now Tavrotine couldn’t shout at him.

Someone was in front of him. Lance squinted in concentration. Small… Green… Green Paladin.  
“Kliox, I want to do some one on one training.” He said.  
The Green Paladin babbled something at him, and tried to tug on his arm.  
Lance pulled away. “Kliox, _please_ let me be.”

The Yellow Paladin, tall and commanding, appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. Lance frowned. “Breght, I don’t feel well. Please, take Kliox and just… lie to Tavrotine.”  
The Yellow and Green Paladins said something. It sounded like Lance was underwater-- perhaps he was sicker than he thought?

He turned to shuffle the other way, only to see the Black Paladin. Oh. So that’s how it was.  
Lance pulled out another form of his bayard. Apparently this was how they wanted to do it. There was a flash of red, and the Red Paladin was in front of him, voice full of concern. It didn’t sound exactly like Myri, but it was still comforting. Lance wanted to listen to the voice.

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to shoot you.” He tried to wink at the Red Paladin, but ultimately decided against it. He took a deep breath, then turned on his heel. He fired two shots at the Green and Yellow Paladins, then fired a shot at the Black Paladin. There were shrieks, shouts of concern, then silence. The Red Paladin, his Myri-not-Myri tried to wrest his bayard away from him. Lance pulled back. “I don’t want to shoot you.”

The Red Paladin was getting aggressive now.  
“ _Please_.” Lance begged.  
The Black Paladin told the Red Paladin something. The Red Paladin huffed something garbled back and tried to make another grab for Lance’s bayard. Lance closed his eyes and squeezed the trigger. He then collapsed against the wall, sliding into a sitting position.

Keith stepped back as the paintball exploded on his shirt. Yes, it hurt, but not as much as Earth ones. Shiro sighed, blue splattered across his face. “Keith, I told you, _leave him alone_. You’re scaring him.”  
“He shot us!” Keith protested.  
“With a paint gun.” Hunk replied. “Didn’t even really hurt.”

Allura pushed past Shiro to approach Lance. “Lance, are you alright?”  
Lance replied in Altean, hugging his bayard to him.  
Allura closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them and spoke softly. “Lance, Tavrotine wasn’t trying to force a confrontation. He knows you need rest.”  
Lance snorted and shot something back.

“Lance, you trust me, don’t you?” Allura asked. “Tavrotine doesn’t want to do that exercise right now. I talked to him.”  
Lance’s face immediately became fearful, and he hurriedly asked something.  
Allura shook her head. “No, you impressed him. He’s very pleased with your shooting under duress. But Myri noticed that your translator’s out again, do you want me to fix it for you?”

Lance shook his head, and pressed his cheeks. “So can I please just go to the shooting range?”  
“Why the hell would you want to go there?” Pidge asked.  
Lance frowned at her. “That’s not… never mind. I need to go there. I don’t want to do physical training right now, I don’t feel well. And I need to be training all the time, according to Tavrotine.” Lance offered Shiro a pointed look here. “Anyway, I just proved myself in close range, right? So I can go?”

Everyone swiveled to look at Shiro. He nodded. “You can go. But Lance-- please go rest.”  
Lance squinted at him for a long minute. Then he finally said, “That’s not Tavrotine.”  
Allura pulled him to his feet. “Lance, listen to me. You have pod fever. You need to sleep it off for a few hours, okay?”

“Blue doesn’t give me pod fever.” Lance huffed.  
“Yes, but the Castle pods _do_ , remember? You’ll feel better when you sleep off the sedative, alright? Come on, let’s get you to bed.”  
Lance pulled away from his sister. “ _No_. He’s going to come back. I can’t… it’ll be much worse if I don’t train. If he catches me… I’ve powered through pod fever before. I can do it again.”

Allura took Lance’s hand. “If Tavrotine has a problem, then tell him to take it up with me, okay? As Qu-- as _Princess_ of Altea, I outrank Tavrotine. And I’m ordering you to get some rest. As a matter of fact, Hreth said that you could use her room to sleep in.”  
Lance blinked owlishly. “That doesn’t sound right… why not just put me in Mother and Father’s room? Or Grandmother and Grandfather’s?”

“Grandfather is taking a nap.” Allura said quickly. “And Mother is also sleeping off a pod fever-- remember how our family is more susceptible, hmm?”  
“Pods aren’t without side effects.” Lance said wryly, before swaying down the hall to his current room.

“He thinks we’re the trainees.” Hunk said as soon as the door closed behind Lance.  
Allura nodded slowly. “He does.”  
Shiro frowned. “What exactly did the Black Paladin trainee do to him?”  
“I don’t know.” Allura admitted. “I previously thought that Tavrotine was an honorable man. Now I’m not so sure.”

“So what about that hybrid thing you mentioned?” Pidge asked.  
Allura took a deep breath, and stared at the floor. “Our mother, Queen Idras, was the daughter of a high ranking Galra official, and an Altean farmgirl. Lance and I are a quarter Galra.”  
“Wait, _she’s_ a farmgirl?” Hunk blurted out, referring to Haggar.  
Allura shot him a warning look. “No, our maternal grandmother was. Farms were incredibly precious on Altea, given that most of the land was desert, and the tops of the mountains were sacred and belonged to the juniberries. Many farmowners and workers had magic in them to maintain the crops. Grandmother’s family owned the farm.”

Shiro shifted uneasily. “So you can do magic?”  
Before Allura could answer, Keith spat, “Doesn’t anyone care about Lance?”  
They all slowly looked at him.  
“You know what, _good question_ Keith. How did Lance change his bayard to a paint gun? That thing should have ripped through us.” Pidge added.   
"That's not what I asked!" Keith hissed. He was ignored.

“As you grow more accustomed to the role of Paladin, you will be able to manipulate the shape of your bayard. However, I confess that I believe Lance went an extra klick and probably went to one of the original Paladins for help.” Coran explained, before looking at Lance’s door. “Tavrotine was… always a bit harder on him than the others. Tavrotine was hard on all of them, but with Lance… it was as though he was taking out every insecurity he had on him.”

Coran turned to look at Shiro. “Tavrotine had the potential to be the best Black Paladin in our history. The Black Lion chose him, out of everyone in the universe. But Tavrotine let himself be consumed by his jealousy, and his hate for Lance. He nearly destroyed Voltron.” Then he smiled, back to his jovial attitude. “Now! Who wants to watch the queen and I lift off?”

When Lance woke up, he felt much better. He dressed, and headed to the common room. Stars sped by. Hunk was explaining a mechanical concept to Shiro, while Keith read a pad, occasionally glancing at the door. Lance doubted that even Keith could learn a new language through sheer willpower, but damned if Keith wasn’t going to try, apparently.

Lance pulled a pad out, and sat down on Keith’s other side. Keith apparently hadn’t noticed that Lance was there, which was disheartening, but understandable. The door was well oiled, and Keith had been looking at the pad while Lance came in. Pidge entered, covered in grease. “Hey, dipshits.”  
“Hey, Pidge.” Hunk said, looking away from Shiro. “Did you find anything out about Sendak’s arm?”  
Pidge shrugged. “A bit. I also implemented Operation Susceptability.”  
“Which is?” Shiro asked.

“I flooded the dungeon with light, moved my workshop down there, and started playing stuff like the B-52s at a really high volume.” Pidge replied. “Also stuff like the trap remix of the Kazoo Kid, and ‘we are number one’. Old memes, basically.”  
“What will this do?” Shiro asked, narrowing his eyes.  
“Prevent them from getting any sleep.” Pidge shrugged.

“...That’s a war crime.” Hunk pointed out. “You all are seeing this, right?”  
“It’s only a war crime if I don’t go through it at the same time myself.” Pidge said.  
“No, no, we’re not doing that.” Shiro replied. “You’re _not_ going to torture the Galra, and you’re _not_ going to deprive yourself of sleep.”  
Pidge poured themselves a glass of space-juice. “It’s either this or we slowly drive them crazy with anticipation.”

“I’m getting serial killer vibes from you again.” Keith commented.  
Shiro stood. “Pidge, as your commanding officer, I order you to respect the conventions of war.”  
“It’s not like the Galra are.” Pidge muttered. “And it’s not my fault Sendak didn’t get enough sleep last night. Anticipation, ya know?”  
Hunk made eye contact with Lance. “The Galra aren’t all monsters though? Like we shouldn’t torture them, or sink to their level, right? I’m not the only one who feels this way?”

Keith whirled on him. “How can you say that?! After everything the Galra have done, you want to say they’re not all monsters?! Look at what they did to my brother! Look at where we are!”  
“Look at where we started, the fact that you’re alive is a miracle...” Pidge sang under their breath.  
Keith turned back to her. “So maybe we _should_ let Pidge do this. Like she-they… like they said, they’re not hurting the Galra. They’re not going near them. And we could learn _so much_ from Sendak.”

Shiro crossed his arms. “I’m with Hunk on this one.”  
Keith glared at him.  
“So I guess Lance is the deciding vote.” Pidge said.  
“You… do know Shiro is your commanding officer, right? Can-can you be court martialed in space?” Hunk asked, looking to Shiro.  
Shiro shrugged. “Don’t look at me. Any insubordination would go to Allura.”

Lance put his pad down on the other side of the couch, standing and joining Keith. “Do you truly believe we’ll get any useful information out of the Galra this way?”  
Keith jumped about a foot in the air. “Where did you come from?!” He demanded.  
Lance blinked at him. “I’ve been here for a while. I don’t really know what’s happening, but I know that we have Galra on board that we have apparently captured.”

Lance took a deep breath before continuing. “Methods such as sleep and food deprivation were always considered the lowest of the low by the previous paladins. The last time we had a prisoner in the dungeon, he was a Drule scout. I was so young, but I used to sneak down and talk to him-- he liked to practice parrty tricks, like sleight of hand, and he had a sick brother to take care of. Just like now, the Red Paladin and the Green Paladin fought with the Black and Yellow Paladins about what to do with him. But I’ll ask again-- do you really think that this is a good way to get information? People will say anything during torture. Sleep deprivation will put them our of their right minds.”

Pidge shifted uncomfortably. “I wasn’t… going to torture Kurok. I was going to focus it on Sendak, and trust me, he deserves--”  
Lance crossed his arms. “He’d probably say the same about you. But good, you weren’t going to torture one. Were you still going to get some good information out of him?”  
“Probably.” Pidge admitted. “He seems to want to help us. He had access to the computers on the _Na’dir._ ”

Lance ground his teeth. “Then _why_ were you planning to do this?”  
Silence fell among the Paladins.  
Lance nodded slowly. “Alright then. I’m going to go find Allura, see what I can find out about what happened when I was unconscious.”  
“We can fill you in.” Shiro said. “And you should probably eat.”

Lance looked at him, then sat down at the table. Little by little, they all filled him in on what happened while Lance slowly fed himself goo.  
“So, to recap the last part-- we owe having our lions and our lives to the _mice_ , Keith and Pidge sneaked around the castle, Hunk promised to help save a planet, and Shiro and my sister were trapped outside all night and yet everyone is more concerned with Keith calling me his ‘boyfriend’, whatever that is.” Lance looked around. “Did I get that right?”  
“Wh-- and we had a bonding moment! I cradled you in my arms!” Keith protested. “You said we made a good team!”

“We do.” Lance fed himself another spoonful of goo. “If I wasn’t here, you and Pidge would have done another stupid thing and needlessly angered the Galra. You’re welcome.”  
Keith groaned loudly. “You’re incorrigible!”  
Lance winked. “Aw, Keith. If you want, I can go back in the pod.”  
Keith’s cheeks flushed a beautiful shade of red. “That’s not what I meant!”

“Keith’s weird kinks aside, that’s not where the story ends.” Pidge pointed out.  
Shiro cleared his throat. “Allura told us about your heritage.”  
Lance halted mid-chew, and made eye contact with Hunk.

“She didn’t name names.” Hunk explained. “But we all know your grandfather was Galra. I mean, I already knew, but...”  
The table exploded into pandemonium.  
“How? How did you know?!” Pidge demanded.

“When did you find out?!” Keith hissed.  
Shiro calmly gazed at Lance. “Have you talked to your sister yet?”  
Lance took another bite of the goo. “Nah, not since I got out. Can you…?”  
“Hmm? Oh, right sure.” Shiro replied, before snapping, “Stow it, cadets!”

Keith and Pidge immediately calmed down.  
Hunk nodded appreciatively. “Thank you. Anyway, Lance told me while you guys were getting the Red Lion. It’s part of why our part of the plan worked so well. Sendak heard his grandfather’s name and were like, ‘well, guess we’d better not kill him’.”  
“But that was ten thousand years ago.” Pidge argued.  
Lance nearly choked on the goo. “Trust me, he’s basically a hero to the Galra today.” He said weakly. “The man my Grandfather was… he was inspiring, he was wise, he was kind… he was the original Black Paladin, actually.”

“Weird that the Galra idolize someone you called ‘kind’.” Pidge commented.   
Shiro frowned at the conflicting information from Lance and Allura regarding the original Black Paladin.  
“Things were different back then.” Lance replied. “I… need to find my sister.”  
Unfortunately for him, Allura and Coran chose that moment to walk in.

“Lance, you’re awake!” Allura said. “How are you feeling?”  
“Better.” Lance grimaced. “I didn’t hurt anyone when I was out, did I?”  
“No, you used paint pellets.” Allura replied.  
Lance closed his eyes. “That’s a relief. ...what are we currently doing with the Galra prisoners?”

Allura’s expression turned cold. “We’re holding them in the dungeon. When it comes time for interrogation, I’ll decide what to do with them. We considered freezing them, but this will wear on them more.”  
Lance winced. “I… see… so what are we doing now?”

“We’re going back to the Balmera to save Shay and her people.” Hunk replied quickly. “We… we… we have to go. What’s the point of being a team like this if we can’t save people?”  
Lance nodded. “I’m down.”  
Pidge adjusted their glasses. “A team like this… I have something to admit. You guys… you’re like my family. And because of that, you should know… I’m a girl. A trans girl, I mean, but… yeah, you know what I mean. I use she/her pronouns.”

Coran clapped his hands. “Finally, one of you just outright stated your gender!”  
Lance nodded. “Thank Al. Alien genders are confusing-- what are the rest of you?”  
“Wait, what?” Pidge asked. “You didn’t-- I was disguised as a boy?”  
“There are so many alien species, each with so many genders… it’s best if we don’t impose our own gender identities on them.” Allura pointed out. “For clarification, I am also female, and Lance and Coran are male.”

“We’re-we’re both guys.” Shiro said, motioning to Keith. “Wait, you seriously didn’t know…?”  
“Does this mean we can go back to not pretending that you’re not our old friend Katie?” Keith asked. “Because that was getting a bit old.”  
Hunk nodded. “I don’t know who this ‘Katie’ is, but yeah, Pidge. You’ve always been a girl to me.”  
Pidge grinned. “Thanks, guys. ...you can call me either Katie or Pidge, if you want. Katie’s my name, but Pidge is what my family calls me.”  
Shiro ruffled her hair. “Then Pidge it is.”

“Since you’ve acknowledged that you’re still Katie, can I recall that time when we were younger and you accidentally created a bomb scare at our elementary school?” Keith deadpanned.  
Everyone turned to stare at him, then at Pidge.  
The light glinted off her glasses. “I mean, you could, Keith. But I could just as easily… _recall_ that note you sent Davy Marsh.”

Keith nodded slowly. “Duly noted. Mutually Assured Destruction it is.”  
Pidge turned to Coran and Allura. “I need the human hormone estrogen-- can you synthesize it?”  
Coran twirled his moustache. “Of course!”

They proceeded to the command room, taking their respective seats.  
“We should be at the Balmera soon.” Coran commented. “Three vargas at most.”  
Allura nodded.  
“Should we wormhole?” Hunk asked.  
“No, a wormhole in this short of a distance could collapse the star system.” Allura replied from the command console.

It took about ten minutes before Keith stood and walked over to Lance. “Um… hey… can we talk?”  
“Sure.” Lance stretched, and followed Keith to the hall. Pidge made eye contact with the long suffering Hunk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Eight is already done, I just wanted to pace myself (unlike the Chapter 5/6 problem). Trust me, Chapter Eight is Good. 
> 
> Hybrids don't do well in the pods. Lance was worse off than Keith because Altean DNA is Weird compared to humans.


	8. The Harbor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's the Harbor 'cause there are so many ships ayyyyy

“What’s this about?” Lance asked.   
“I just… we haven’t really talked since the party and...” Keith took a deep breath.   
“We talked in the common room.” Lance pointed out. “We talked a lot.”   
“No, I upset you. And anyway, that was with everyone else...” Keith said. “And you all have your points, I just… fighting this war is a lot harder than I thought it would be. It’s easier to just think of it all as black and white.”   
Lance cupped Keith’s face. “I understand. But all this heavy talk is kind of weighing us down, hmm? I can’t be Lance the great, Lance the hilarious, Lance the awesome when we talk about the Galra.”

“I don’t want that Lance, I just want you.” Keith blurted out.   
Lance blinked at him for a second, before smiling. “Sweet. But nah, you don’t want sad Lance. That guy’s a real buzzkill. C’mon, let’s get back before Allura decides I’ve disgraced our entire family name, and I end up like Farla.”

“Farla?” Keith asked.   
Lance winced. “Word of advice… don’t mention that name around Allura. It’s… not a pretty story.”   
“Most stories I hear these days aren’t.” Keith remarked drily.   
Lance laughed. “Oh Keith… you don’t even know the half of it.”

He pulled Keith back into the command room.

“So,” Lance asked. “What’s the plan with the Balmera? Charge in, guns blazing, like; pow, pow pow?” He mimed shooting his bayard.   
“Well, I mean, it’d be Voltron guns so like; ka chow, ka chow, ka chow.” Hunk mimed Voltron shooting a large gun.   
“Nah, nah, nah.” Pidge said. “Pew, pew pew.”   
“Cadets...” Shiro called, standing and joining them. “Let’s all be realistic.” There was a pause before Shiro said, “They’d be more like _blam, blam, blam!_ ”

Keith looked at Allura and Coran. “You two wanna get in on this?”   
Allura nodded. “Paladins, _please_. You have yet to unlock Voltron’s gun function. As of right now, it would sound like this… fwush, fwush, fwush...” She mimed swiping a sword through the air.

Coran nodded slowly. “We cannot harm the planet anyway, Paladins. We must think of a way to neutralize the Galra without collateral damage.”   
“Right!” Hunk interjected. “The Balmera’s alive, and already super damaged by the Galra.”   
“They have not performed the energy rejuvenation ceremony.” Coran sighed. “And I know that there are countless more like this Balmera out there, dying this cruel death.”

“We’re really the only ones who can stop them.” Hunk finished. “The Galra, I mean. Not the Balmeras. We don’t want to stop those.”   
“So we draw the Galra up to the surface…?” Shiro suggested.

“Then we slam ‘em, Voltron style?” Pidge punched her hand to make her point.   
“How are we gonna get them to the surface?” Lance asked. “Throw a party?”   
Keith shrugged. “Wouldn’t they come running when they see the famed Voltron lions coming their way?”   
Allura frowned. “We still wouldn’t know how many are inside the core...”

“Sure we do.” Lance shrugged. “Same way we know on the ship-- life scans.”   
“Those are inaccurate, they wouldn’t differentiate the Balmerans from the Galra.” Allura pointed out.   
Pidge shrugged. “I mean _…_ I _could_ use Rover to hack into their system and see what _they_ use to differentiate the Galra from the Balmerans. Quick question though; what would _Lance_ show up as?”   
“Altean.” Allura said without hesitating.

Lance shot her an unimpressed look. “Yeah… the fact of the matter is, we run quite hot, hotter than most Alteans. Given the climate of Balmeras, the locals likely run as hot as Galra. There won’t be much to distinguish between the two in a thermal scan.”   
“Keith runs quite hot as well.” Shiro interjected, making eye contact with Allura. “I don’t want you guys getting shot ‘cause one of our team mistook you for the enemy.”

Pidge sighed. “I don’t have enough time to rig a scanner. I guess we’ll just have to use the castle scanners and hope for the best. Can they go long-range, and ping to our suits?”   
“Sure.” Coran said. “They can do both of those things individually, why not together?”

“Do we need to prepare anything though?” Pidge asked.   
“No, we _should_ be able to run the scans from here.” Coran noted. “I’m just worried it will interfere with our ability to provide support. Either one would draw most of the system’s power. We don’t want to leave you blind, but we also don’t want to leave you alone.”

“Let’s run the scans for now.” Shiro suggested. “I was under the impression that our defenses are still down.”   
Allura looked at him approvingly. “You’re correct. In light of that, Coran and I will stay under the cloud cover unless we’re absolutely needed.”

Shiro looked away. “Right. Black and I will take out the biggest target--”   
“The power generator.” Coran supplied.   
Shiro nodded. “Right, the power generator. You four take out the… it’s a mining colony, so I want to say… rigs?”

Coran twirled his moustache. “That sounds right.”   
Pidge tapped her chin pensively. “A mining colony… while I was looking through the records of the _Na’dir_ , my father was held on a Balmera. I mean he escaped, but that’s not the point. Aren’t they pumping in prisoners when the locals won’t work?”   
Hunk shrugged. “I mean, they enslaved the Balmerans.”   
Shiro nodded. “Last I heard, Matt was being transferred to a mining colony. It can’t hurt to check out the Balmera-- see if they have any prisoners.”

Lance clapped his hands together. “Great! ...so, do we just… sit tight for two and three quarters of a varga? What are we doing here?”   
“Road trip games?” Hunk suggested.   
“I used to watch movies in the car.” Pidge pointed out.

The other Earthlings whipped their heads around to stare at her.   
“Okay, if the part where you and Keith kind of murdered a guy while I was gone, the part where you wanted to break the Geneva Convention today and probably some other giant red flag weren’t enough, that _definitely_ means you’re a serial killer in the making.” Hunk said. “But I digress. Gather ‘round, everyone. I’m about to introduce some of you to charades, some of you to I Spy, and all of you to this game I used to play with my baby cousin.”

The rest of the time to the Balmera passed quickly. Keith was the champion at Charades, but the Alteans really pulled ahead in I Spy. Apparently Allura and Lance had better vision then most. The third game no one could really win, and then the Alteans realized they could make up literally any place or object and the humans wouldn’t call them on it. The humans realized the same thing, and the rest of the game was spent in trying to see if they could catch each other out. Shiro was best at this, but Pidge began to pull ahead. Apparently Lance had a tell, but she wouldn’t tell them what it was.

Their good moods faded as they reached the Balmera. Even from far off, they could see the Galra rigs. The walk down to the lions was mostly silent, then Lance grinned. “Have you guys ever wondered why we have zip lines and everything?”   
“I have wondered about that incredibly inefficient form of travel, actually.” Pidge agreed.   
Lance laughed. “It’s ‘cause Coran’s grandpa wanted to stick it to _my_ grandfather, King Alvaris of Altea. Old Alvaris wasn’t too fond of things like _fun_ , so when he hired Coran’s grandfather to construct something to house a weapon he didn’t have yet, Coran’s grandpa filled the castle with a whole barris of wacky stuff.”

They reached their respective ziplines.   
“What kind of wacky stuff?” Pidge asked in the helmet.   
“Eh… there was a live yelmor somewhere...” Lance muttered vaguely.   
“Yeah, I think that kind of ended up in my room. Either that or I picked up a giant furry creature on Arus. I call him Ted.” Hunk commented.

“Is it dangerous?” Shiro asked.   
“Nah. At least, I don’t think so. Probably.” Hunk replied. “He mostly just sleeps a lot. It’s kind of sunny in my room when we were on Arus.”   
“When we finish kicking Galra butt, I’ll go take a look at it.” Lance promised.   
Hunk chuckled. “Sure, man.”

“Remember, keep your shots clear of the Balmera.” Shiro ordered as they landed in their lions. All five flew towards the planet. Shiro unlocked the use of the jaw blade, and manuevered it to carve deep swathes into the main generator, flying back as it collapsed. Lance used Blue’s ice breath, still unlocked from creating the coronation mound, to weaken structures. Hunk would then slam into them.

“Hey, I think Red just gave me fire breath?” Keith asked.   
“Is this like the sword thing where you’re like, ‘oh man my lion just gave me this sick ass ability. I don’t know though, should I use it’?” Pidge demanded. “Because if so I will land Green on top of Red, exit, climb into Red, and smack the shit out of you before returning to Green and flying off.”

“Pidge, no smacking.” Shiro ordered. “Does anyone see the troops?”   
“Maybe they’re still in the mines.” Hunk said.   
Allura’s voice came over the radio. “According to our scans, there is an entire hangar of ships underground. We _cannot_ let them launch.”   
“On it, Allura.” Shiro said. “Keith, Lance, take out the hangar. Hunk, get the Balmerans. Pidge, come with me. We’re gonna get the troops.”

“You _really_ want to put the PDA squad together?” Pidge snarked. “ _Really_?”   
“Pidge, don’t question my orders.” Shiro said. “Everyone got it?”   
“Aye aye.” Pidge replied.   
“Yes sir.” Keith said.   
“We’re on it.” Lance added.   
“Roger.” Hunk said.

The Red and Blue lions dived into a hole. Lance and Keith landed, and exited, drawing their bayards immediately.   
“Okay, Allura sent me the scans. The hangar should be up ahead.” Lance whispered.   
Keith peered around the corner. “There’s a few sentries, I can take them out.”   
He moved to go for them, but Lance grabbed his wrist. “No, don’t you _dare_ , you Red Paladin stereotype! You do _not_ go up against several sentries who have rifles when you have a sword without a _plan_!”   
“What’s your idea, then?” Keith hissed.

“Either let _me_ snipe them from here, or I’ll distract them.” Lance replied smoothly. “Then you can jump in and swing your sword to your heart’s content.”   
“I… fine. You distract them, and I’ll take them out. Then we take their guns and use them to create an explosion in the hangar--”   
“ _No_.” Lance interrupted. “We’re not going to do that. The explosion would hurt the Balmera. Listen, let’s just get past this and then we’ll see the set up in the hangar and get a course of action, hmm?”

Keith sighed in exasperation. “ _Fine_.”   
Lance pressed a kiss to Keith’s cheek. “Thanks for listening to me.”   
Keith flushed as red as his armor. “You-you… you know what you’re doing to me?”   
“Keith, is this really the time and place for this?” Lance asked innocently.

Keith pulled him into a rough kiss. “You can’t just do that.” He said as they pulled apart.   
“Neither can you, we’re in the middle of a warzone, buddy.” Lance smirked. “So let’s see if I can distract them as well as I can distract you.”   
Keith nodded and climbed a ladder behind them to the rafters.

Lance stood. Then he leaped out in front of the sentries and jumped up and down. “Come and get me!”   
The sentries raised their guns, and Keith came down upon them, hacking them to bits. “Some distraction.”   
“Worked, didn’t it?” Lance grinned.   
“You’re lucky you’re cute.”   
Pidge’s voice crackled over the radio. “I hate both of you and also Shiro owes me ten space dollars.”   
Lance laughed. “Let’s get moving before she drives your brother further into debt.”

Across the galaxy, Sam Holt, a man who had never gambled after the Las Vegas Incident of 2019 when he was a foolhardy teenager, smiled. “Jetr, I wasn’t expecting to see you today.”   
“I… I have developed a cough, The Samuel.” Jetr said, before coughing fakely.   
“You don’t need an excuse to see me, Jetr.” Sam pointed out. “I like your company.”

Jetr stared at him. “You do?”   
“Of course! You’re the leader of Star Command.” Sam grinned widely.   
Jetr held his hands, a sign he was nervous. “It’s not an excuse though. Recently, I have been feeling heart palpitations. Sweaty palms. My skin grows hot. Kleetnad and Falcrav refuse to help.”   
“Kleetnad I can understand, but Falcrav?” Sam scowled. “That doesn’t sound like him. This could be serious. Any reason why they won’t help?”

“...Kleetnad says I am too old to not know what it means.” Jetr grumbled irritably. “Falcrav says it’s not life-threatening.”   
“You never know.” Sam replied. “Could be an alien virus we picked up from our latest rescues.”   
Jetr nodded slowly. “What should we do?”   
“Well, first quarantine any newcomers from now on, especially sick ones.” Sam said. “Who’ve you been around lately that could have transferred it to you?”

Jetr blinked up at him owlishly, his completely black eyes betraying nothing. “Only you?”   
Sam frowned in thought. “Really? That’s odd. I suppose I could be a carrier, but I always clean my hands before and after treating someone and you’re the first to complain. Give me your arm.”

Jetr obediently held his arm out, and Sam took his pulse. Sam nodded thoughtfully. “Your pulse _is_ faster than normal. Jetr, do you want to stay overnight for observation?”   
“I… no. My quarters are more than sufficient.” If Sam didn’t know better, he’d say Jetr was blushing under his thick pink fur.

“Alright. I don’t know what else I can do for you.” Sam said apologetically. “Drink plenty of fluids.”   
He began to move away, but Jetr caught his wrist. “The Samuel… what will happen when you find the Matt and the Takashi?”   
“We’ll go home, I guess.” Sam shrugged. “Why?”   
“You will go home? To the Colleen?” Jetr pressed.

Sam nodded. “She’s my wife.”   
“You miss her?” Jetr continued. “You… have feelings for her? Still? After so long apart?”   
“Of course I do.” Sam said softly. He had a sudden feeling he knew what this was about. “Jetr… if you’re going to tell me what I think you’re going to tell me… I took a vow to be faithful to Colleen.”

“But you told Falcrav once.” Jetr almost begged. “I heard you. Your species isn’t wholly monogamous. You can even be polyamorous.”   
“Jetr, some people are.” Sam replied, sliding his hand down to grasp Jetr’s. “And I admit the thought crossed my mind. But I haven’t discussed it with Colleen-- I can’t cheat on her with you, as much as I want to.”   
Jetr stared up at him in shock. “You want it?” Then he smiled. “She never has to know, The Samuel--”   
Samuel pulled away. “ _I_ would know, Jetr. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I cheated on Colleen, or if I led you on. I can’t stay with you forever, Jetr. I can’t be a replacement for your wife.”

“Not a replacement!” Jetr said quickly. “Never a replacement for Gare. Just… a lover. Please? Think about it?”   
Sam shook his head. “I’m sorry, Jetr. I can’t right now.”   
Jetr sighed. “As you wish, The Samuel. My apologies for making you uncomfortable.”

Back at the Balmera, Hunk had reached the area where the Balmerans lived, drawing some fire from the Galra before doing so. “Hey, everyone, are you alright?”   
Shay’s grandmother patted his back. “What a nice young man. And look, he actually came back.”   
“I promised I would.” Hunk replied, before looking around. “Where’s Shay?”

Rax stood, and glared at Hunk. “You ask that, when you are the cause of her being gone? We do not want the help of a Paladin of Voltron who does such things, who leads to my sister being imprisoned. To get to you, they took her away to the core of the Balmera. She could be dead.”   
Shay’s father scowled at Rax. “That is enough, Rax. Shay could still perhaps be alive.”

“Yeah, and let’s not play the blame game, buddy.” Hunk huffed at Rax. “You sold us out to the Galra.”   
“Yes, I sold _you_ out. The Galra were not meant to take my sister. Shay was not meant to interfere.” Rax growled.   
Hunk glared at him, then pulled up a bio-scan of the Balmera from his suit. “There’s a large mass of life signs at the center. Is that you guys or…?”   
“The Galra have long since taken the center of the Balmera for themselves.” Shay’s grandmother said. “No Balmerans go there of their own free will.”   
Hunk nodded, then called the others via radio. “Guys? Can we meet at the core? The Galra are down there and it would be stupid to go in alone. And they have Shay imprisoned there.”

“It’s an ambush, but we have to save whoever we can.” Shiro agreed. “Lance, Keith, how are you two coming along?”   
“We’ll be along in a few doboshes,” Lance replied. “We’re almost done.”   
“A few minutes, he means.” Keith added.   
“We don’t have time for you two to make out.” Hunk couldn’t see Pidge, but he knew she was rolling her eyes.   
“Okay, meet you guys there.” Hunk headed off the oncoming argument and cut the connection.

Keith and Lance were outside the hangar, about to implement their plan.   
“Okay, so what we’re gonna do is try to shut the hangar doors.” Lance muttered to Keith.   
“That’s… actually a pretty good plan.” Keith murmured as they took out guards and began to make their way to the control tower.

“I have many good plans.” Lance preened. “I have a very analytical mind.”   
Keith rolled his eyes, but smiled all the same. “A very empty mind, maybe.”   
Lance laughed. _“Rude_. C’mon.”   
They climbed to the top of the control room in the hangar, then came in through the ceiling (thanks mostly to Keith’s bayard).

Lance shot the door handle several times, effectively melting it and preventing the Galra from breaking in.   
Keith had already closed the hangar doors.   
“How did you do that?” Lance asked.

“I just… pressed here.” Keith pointed to the control panel.   
Lance read the control panel, then looked at Keith. Then he looked up. “We need to go, Hunk’s waiting for us.”   
“Wh… what did you see?” Keith asked.

“Nothing important.” Lance replied. “Come on; one, two, three...” Lance boosted Keith out of the control room, then climbed out himself using shape-shifting. He shifted back, and they continued towards the core.

On the ship, Coran stretched. “It’s time to feed the prisoners. Can you take over for me?”   
“Of course.” Allura replied. “Though is now really the best time?”   
Coran fixed her with a look. “Yes. At the very least, it helps them keep a perception of time. I feel your pain about Altea, but that does not mean I will help drive them mad by ruining their perception of how long they’ve been down there.”

Allura nodded. “Alright, then. We should be fine, what’s the worst that could happen?”   
Coran smiled wanly, then proceeded to the kitchen. He acquired two bowls of goo, as well as two spoons, and continued to the dungeon. It was now covered in lights, and Pidge’s music was loudly playing.

Coran turned off most of the lights. “Apologies, gentlemen. I know Galra prefer darkness and quiet.”   
“Thank you.” The subordinate smiled at him. “For the food as well. I actually quite like the music, could you keep it on?”   
“Kurok!” Sendak bit out. “How _dare_ you! The music is meant to break us!”   
“It’s so catchy though!” Kurok responded, before beginning to sing along. “Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down, never gonna run around and desert you...”

In Coran’s opinion, he had a lovely voice. Coran handed them the bowls of food. Sendak shoveled it down to avoid the flavor, but Kurok ate more delicately.   
“I’m terribly sorry, but I need to get back soon. Could you eat a bit faster?” Coran asked.   
Kurok blinked. “Oh, of course. Sorry about that. ...by the way, has anyone ever told you that you’re gorgeous?”

Coran flushed, and Sendak sighed in exasperation. “Now you’re flirting with the enemy. Great. Good job. When we get back, even the Arena is too good for you.”   
“That’s rude.” Kurok replied, pointing his spoon at Sendak. “Don’t be rude in front of the beautiful Altean.”   
“I wish Haxus had lived and you died.” Sendak said flatly.   
“I don’t know how you think that would lessen the flirting in this dungeon.” Kurok noted as the song changed to Darude’s ‘Sandstorm’. “And besides, Haxus liked you, nasty as you are. Imagine what he’d say when confronted with this lovely, _polite_ Altean.”

Coran flopped his hand. “Oh, stop, you’re making me blush.”   
Kurok grinned. “I _am_? No one’s ever really liked when I complimented them before.”   
“I didn’t know a Galra had such fine taste.” Coran winked at Kurok. “You’re not so bad either.”   
Kurok’s ears stood straight up.   
“This may be the light and the stupid music talking, but I want to die.” Sendak said.   
Kurok resisted the urge to throw his spoon at him. “I didn’t interrupt when you and Haxus… did your thing… so can you please just let me have this?”

“ _No_ , because that is our _enemy_. How do you not know that?” Sendak demanded.   
“Well, perhaps I want to defect.” Kurok huffed.   
Sendak gasped rather dramatically. “You don’t mean that!”   
“No, I really do.” Kurok replied. “The Paladins are nicer than you are, they’re certainly more polite, and this Altean is gorgeous _and_ doesn’t hold me in contempt for complimenting them.”

“As fun as this is, I have to get back to the queen.” Coran said. “Can I have your bowls back, _please_?”   
Kurok shot Sendak a pointed look as he handed Coran back the bowl. Sendak sighed and slid it through the bars. “Why do I bother…?”   
“Come back soon beautiful!” Kurok called as Coran left. “I still haven’t learned your name!”   
“It’s Coran.” Coran replied.

“Coran, Coran… that means desert dreamer in Altean, doesn’t it?” Kurok said.   
Coran’s face lit up as he turned back to Kurok. “You understand Altean?”   
“The culture has always fascinated me.” Kurok admitted. “Though I’m not sure how much I know is real and how much is government propaganda.”   
“I would be happy to teach you...” Coran began.   
Sendak closed his eyes. “I will count my blessings. At least it’s not actually a Paladin you’re trying to woo, Kurok.”   
Kurok waved at Coran as the ginger left. “I meant what I said earlier. Come back soon please!”   
“Or never. Never is also good.” Sendak deadpanned. “Same goes for the Green Paladin, but for different reasons.”

On the Balmera, Lance and Keith met up with the rest of the team in the tunnels.   
“Someone’s coming.” Pidge hissed, using the scans from the castle.   
“Keith, in front with me. Lance, Hunk, don’t fire unless you’ve got a clear shot directly at them.” Shiro ordered. “Pidge, get behind me and Keith but stay in front of Lance and Hunk.”

The team got into formation, then relaxed as the life scans moving toward them turned out to be Balmerans.   
“Hold fire!” Shiro said. “This is about to be a dangerous warzone. Do you require any help?”   
“Why are you not running?” One of the Balmerans demanded. “The Galra are coming. They are killing the Balmera-- they will kill us all.”   
“We’re going to stop them.” Shiro said firmly. “Can you get everyone to a safe area?”   
The Balmerans frowned at him. “There is nowhere safe.”

“Can you get to somewhere _safer_ than here?” Lance asked.   
Grumbling, the Balmerans left as quickly as they came.   
“Let’s get moving.” Hunk said grimly.

They came to a regiment of Galra guarding a large door. Lance signaled to Hunk, and they began climbing up the walls.   
“What are you doing?” Keith hissed.   
“Have you ever tried to snipe from behind someone at that range?” Lance asked back. He and Hunk reached a plateau area, and got into position. Lance took the first shot, shooting one of the robot sentries in the head. It crumpled to the floor, and the other three Paladins jumped into the frey before the source could be pinpointed by the sentries.

Hunk’s weapon wasn’t made for precise shots like Lance’s, but he was a capable marksman. He took out larger targets, like the sentries’ legs, so that others could kill them easier. At last, it was over, and Lance and Hunk dropped down to the floor. Lance stretched. “I hope we don’t have to do that again-- my legs are killing me.”   
“Not as much as they killed the sentries.” Keith pointed out.

“Did Keith just try to flirt?” Pidge asked. “You all saw that, right?”  
“Leave him be, Pidge.” Shiro said. “If you never let him practice his flirting, it’s always going to be that bad.”   
Keith raised his middle finger at them, and Lance laughed. “I think it’s cute.”

“Yeah, yeah. Any other time, I would jump on the ‘Keith and Lance’ train, but we’re in the middle of a situation here.” Hunk hissed.  
Lance sobered, and nodded, holding his hand to the scanner. It immediately opened.  
Shay was hanging by her wrists from the ceiling, and gagged. Hunk immediately shot off her cuffs, then caught her in his arms. “Shay! Are you okay?”

She pulled the gag off. “You must run! The Galra are coming!”   
“Don’t worry, we knew that was going to happen.” Shiro said as the door slammed shut behind them.   
“...we did not account for them trying to trap us.” Pidge noted.   
“In hindsight, we should have.” Hunk shot Lance a look.

Lance smiled sheepishly at him, before drawing his bayard. “We’re not going down without a fight. By the way, how’d they know we’d be here?”   
“The Galra knew that Hunk would return.” Shay said as Hunk let her down.   
“How?” Keith asked.   
“I know not, but if I was forced to guess, I would say that it was because Hunk yelled that he would be back to rescue me as he and the orange-hair left.” Shay said in complete seriousness.

“Right, my bad.” Hunk said. “Now how do we get out of here, especially without hurting the Balmera?”   
“Can Allura beam us up or anything?” Pidge asked.   
Lance stared at her. “Beam… us… up? An evacuation would be impeded by the Balmera. I don’t think I can even get a good radio signal here.”   
“Okay, so she’s out.” Shiro sighed. “Don’t worry, we’ll figure something out.”

Shay knelt to the ground. “The Balmera will send a message to my family. Do not fear.”   
“Shay is the MVP right now.” Pidge said.   
Shay smiled uncertainly. “MVP…?”   
“Most Valuable Player.” Pidge explained. “The most helpful person on the team.”   
Shay’s face lit up. “Thank you, Green Paladin.”

Pidge made finger guns at her. “No problem.”   
Lance gasped and put a hand to his chest. “My signature move… I taught you well.”   
“I’m glad that you are able to put a humorous spin on this.” Shiro looked towards the door. “We might need something to smile about when this is all over.”  
“Let me see if I can get a scan up.” Keith said. “We’ll be able to see them coming.” It didn’t work, no matter how many times Keith tried it.   
Slowly, they looked at Lance, who had paled. “We need to get back up there soon.”

Rax suddenly burst out of nowhere. “Quickly! The Balmera has revealed this passage, but another group saw your gaudy vehicles be in the process of being taken! We must make haste to catch them!”   
The five paladins were just able to get to the Lions in time.   
“Thanks.” Keith and Pidge quickly said as they ran away.   
“Thank you.” Lance and Shiro gave Rax a smile before joining them.

Hunk shook his hand. “Thanks, Rax. We cool?”   
“I don’t know what that means, but I hate you less.” Rax remarked dryly.   
“Yeah, we’re cool.” Hunk grinned. “I gotta go, but I’ll be back!”

He just barely made it to his lion.   
“Everyone in?” Shiro asked.   
“Yeah!” Everyone whooped.   
“Alright, let’s take out that Galra ship!” Shiro ordered.

“Uh, why don’t we form Voltron?” Pidge asked.   
“We took down the _Na’dir_ without it.” Lance replied. “And that was with roughly two lions. Why not do a similar thing?”   
“He has a point. Lance, Hunk, go after the ion cannon.” Shiro ordered. “Pidge, Keith, with me.”

His lion slashed the sides of the Galra ship while Keith used his fire breath. Pidge used her lion’s laser blasts to take out the launch bay for the mini-fighters. Lance froze the base of the ion cannon and Hunk slammed into it, ripping it off.

“We’re almost done for!” Allura said into the radio.   
“Alright. Team! Form Voltron!” Shiro ordered. They complied, and Voltron destroyed what was left of the battleship easily.   
“Nicely done.” Allura said approvingly. “Now separate, and let’s… what in the name of Al is that?!”   
Voltron flew back as an enormous pod flew their way.

“Calling it now, it’s another giant monster.” Pidge guessed.   
“Nooooo, don’t jinx it!” Hunk moaned.   
The pod cracked open with a hiss, and through a rising stream of smoke, a thin giant with freakishly long arms stepped out.   
“Okay, now say it’s actually very weak.” Hunk said. “Say it wants to be friends like your weird Galra prisoner buddy.”

“Okay, first of all, Kurok’s not weird so jot that down. Second, the power of the jinx cannot be called upon like that.” Pidge huffed.   
“What other superpowers do you have?” Lance asked.   
“Jumping is one of them.” Pidge replied.

“Cadets, focus!” Shiro snapped. “Be ready for it to attack us!”   
The monster lurched into motion, and Voltron met it blow for blow, taking most of its laser shots so as to protect the Balmera.   
Allura was tired of watching her younger brother be thrown around. He looked ill on screen, and at least one of the lions had taken critical damage. “Coran, land the castle.”

“Your Majesty, are you sure that’s a good idea?” Coran asked.   
Allura nodded once. “Look at the Balmera. It’s going to pieces in front of us. If we evacuate the Balmerans, we can move out and draw it away. We also need to find the prisoners.”   
“...you’re the boss...” Coran muttered.   
“As Shiro would say, damned straight I am.” Allura said.

“You taught Allura Earth swears?” Pidge howled in the comms.   
“What is a damn?” Lance asked.   
“Aw, man, Lance. That is _essential_ Earth knowledge so that ‘Gone with the Wind’ can be quoted.” Hunk said. “However, everyone just-just consider. What if Rhett Butler had said, ‘frankly my dear, I don’t give a fuck’?”

“Hunk, you beautiful genius.” Pidge cackled. “If we weren’t fighting for our lives, I would focus on that.”   
“Rhett Butler is a Southern gentleman!” Keith hissed.   
Shiro gave a sigh of long suffering. “Okay. Because we’re talking about this _and_ fighting a monster, I will tell y’all a little secret. Also, if I’m going down, I’m going down teasing my brother.”   
“Oh my god.” Pidge said.

“What’s a ‘y’all’?” Lance asked as Voltron aimed a kick at the monster.   
“Keith and I grew up in various Southern states because of Dad’s job. He’s an archaeologist, he specializes in that particular area in Native American history.” Shiro explained. “And because of that, Keith has some… cowboy things. Like when he’s tired-- heck, when we’re both tired, we’ll sound a bit more… southern. Also Keith just likes to ride things? Like bulls and stuff? He can be what we like to call ‘Texas Keith’ at times.”

Keith let out a howl of anguish, and Allura looked up from her speeding across the Balmera’s plains. The Red Lion was actually one of the least damaged.   
Pidge laughed hysterically over the comms. “ _Texas Keith_!”   
“At times like this, I’m glad I’m an only child.” Hunk noted.

“What’s a Texas?” Lance asked. “Please, someone, define these quiznaking Earth terms for me.”   
“How about when we’re not fighting for our lives?” Hunk asked. “That sounds _great_ to me.”   
“We haven’t lost yet.” Keith said firmly. “We’re not going to lose now.”   
“Yeah, you just made it to first base.” Pidge snickered.

“I swear to _God_...” Keith threatened.   
Allura ignored their banter and reached the bottom of the caverns. By some fortuitous happenstance, Shay was already near the entrance.

“Hello.” Allura said. “I am Queen Allura of Altea, and we need to evacuate.”   
Shay’s eyes lit up. “You are with Voltron?”   
“Yes. The important thing now is that we need to evacuate. The Balmera is dying. Can you help me get a message out soon… I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name?”

“I am Shay, of the Crust Clan.” Shay replied. “Many will not leave. The Balmera is our home, Queen Allura. We will die alongside her. But I will send your message regardless.”   
Shay held her hand to the wall, causing a glow. Then she pulled her hand away, a pained expression on her face. “None will go, Queen Allura. The Balmera has been our home for generations. We cannot abandon her when she needs us. It is not right for Voltron to die for us.”

Allura scowled. “No. You’re innocent. No one here deserves to die, except the Galra who caused this, and Zarkon’s monster. I will _never_ allow another planet to be destroyed by the Galra like Altea when I can do something-- _anything_ to stop it.”   
Surprisingly, the person who spoke next was Rax, melting out of the shadows. “Queen Allura has a point, Shay. We must fight for the Balmera, and try to save her.”

“You would fight?” Shay asked in surprise.   
“Do not be so shocked!” Rax huffed. “Is the Balmera not my home as well? I wish to atone for my misdeeds.”   
Shay smiled. “My thanks, brother.”

Rax nodded tersely, and both turned to Allura.   
“What must we do?” Rax asked.   
Coran spoke into the radio. “Prin-- _quiznak_ , Queen Allura! The ground beneath the castle seems alive again. I’m not sure if this is relevant, but there is a way to save the Balmera. The revitalization ceremony.”

Allura froze. “But Lance is fighting the monster.”   
“Did someone say my name?” Allura could practically hear her brother smirk. She could also hear that he was short of breath and sounded hoarse.   
“Lance, do not leave your lion.” Allura ordered. He’d never survive losing his quintessence in the revitalization ceremony. “I… I can do this myself.”

“Allura, I do not recommend that.” Coran said hurriedly. “It could kill you.”   
“Allura, don’t do this!” Shiro said into the radio, narrowly beating Lance to it. “We will defeat the monster, just stay put!”   
“The Balmera doesn’t have that sort of time.” Allura hissed. “Shay… other Balmeran whose name I did not learn… please gather others and meet me underneath the castle.”

As Allura and the Balmerans made their way up, Hunk was able to form his shoulder cannon in Voltron, severely weakening the monster of the week. Allura’s speeder touched down as Voltron fired another volley of shots at the monster, and the Balmerans arrived soon after.   
“Can everyone get in a pentagon, please?” Allura asked. “I’m going to use the crystal as a conduit, but I need a conduit to the Balmera.”   
The Balmerans heeded what she said, and Allura took a deep breath, before kneeling and joining the Balmerans. Then she began to chant under her breath.   
It wasn’t a traditional revitalization chant, it was a chant to give quintessence and heal, drawing partially on loose quintessence in the area. It was the first spell her grandmother had ever taught her, when Lance had fallen and scraped his knee as a child, fat tears rolling down his cheeks.

Quick. Painless. And incredibly common. But still much more powerful and necessary than a regular revitalization ceremony. Allura closed her eyes, not noticing the blue glow that spread from her fingertips. It didn’t matter. The Balmera noticed. The Balmera felt alive for the first time in centuries. With a sharp jab that turned to a million crystal shards in the soft core of the Galra monster, she freed herself of the pest. She sent warning jabs into Lance and Hunk’s lions-- Voltron had caused her enough problems. Voltron blasted into the air, Blue and Lance screaming in pain as one.

“Lance, are you okay?!” Keith demanded, panting deeply. “Answer me, goddammit!”   
“I’m okay.” Lance said weakly. “Blue and I just got a bit banged up. We all did.”   
“After this I’m going to sleep for a week.” Pidge moaned.   
Shiro gave a bitter smile. “I’m proud of you guys. Disband and land the lions in the castle. We need to check on Allura.”

“ _Yes_.” Lance agreed wholeheartedly. “Blue, go as fast as you’re comfortable with.”   
It was fairly fast. Blue wasn’t Red, but she was in no hurry to stay out there with the Balmera. She added an extra burst of speed, even though she was fairly certain the Altean drew upon some of _Voltron’s_ quintessence. Ah well, nothing she and her sisters couldn’t replenish naturally.

“You’re sure, Blue?” Lance asked quietly. “You’re sure you’ll be okay?”   
Blue gave a deep purr. Silly Paladin. Hreth had put her through hell, and her sisters’ former paladins had been no better-- the lions would be able to heal themselves. She wouldn’t have said no to being buffed and polished when her paladin was feeling better, though.

Lance gave her a small smile and ran out of her hangar. The other paladins were right behind him, and the five of them almost ran right into Coran, carrying Allura in his arms.   
Lance stared at his sister, then slowly looked at Coran. “Please. Please don’t tell me she’s...”   
“She’s exhausted.” Coran said softly, accompanied by a small smile. “She’s alright, Allances. Don’t use your quintessence trying to revive her, you’ll kill yourself. Besides, we need you to take the helm in case we need to use a wormhole.”

Lance nodded slowly. “Alright.”   
“Before we do that, can we say goodbye and thank you to the Balmerans?” Hunk asked. “Yes? No? Maybe?”   
Lance grinned at him. “Sure, buddy. Go wild. Hug all the Balmerans you want. Maybe they’ll throw us a parade.”   
Hunk pumped his fist and ran out of the castle, Pidge with him. Shiro moved to take Allura from Coran. “I can carry her to her room.”

Coran held her away from Shiro. “As can I, Black Paladin.”   
“Coran, can you please let Shiro help the queen?” Keith asked. “That way I can tease him as much as he teases me for being in a relationship with Lance.”   
Coran looked between Keith and Lance, then frowned. “Allances, you haven’t done anything you’ll regret, have you?”

Lance flushed. “N-no!”   
Coran relaxed. “Alright then. Here, Number one. Take the Queen.”   
He shifted Allura into Shiro’s arms, and he adjusted her so that it was more of a bridal carry. Allura groaned slightly and snuggled closer to his chest.

“Was I like that?” Lance asked. “When you cradled me in your arms?”   
Keith crossed his arms. “No.”   
Shiro glared at him. “Hey-- I’m not going to do anything untoward to Allura. She’s _unconscious._ ”   
“Yeah, I know! I didn’t do anything either!” Keith protested. “But Lance was out cold for me, and you have a really strong crush on the queen! If Pidge is going to roast me for getting a significant other, at least I can give them information to take you down with me.”

Shiro stared at his brother for a minute, before remarking in a Southern accent, “I would have expected nothin’ less from the three-time cattle ropin’ champion of Fort Worth cow camp, not t’mention the five time rodeo rider from the Fort Worth Stockyards Championship.”   
Keith let out a sound crossed between the strangled squawk from the time he lit Lance’s room on fire accidentally, and the earlier shriek of humiliation. “You _swore_ to never speak of that again. _Why are you speaking of it again in front of Lance?!”_

“I understood literally nothing he just said.” Lance remarked cheerfully. “And everyone is putting _way_ too much into the fact that Shiro is carrying my sister around. Why are Earthlings like this?” At this, he swiveled to look at Coran, who shrugged.   
Lance turned to walk away. “Well, I guess Allura’s going to get over her fatigue in Shiro’s arms, ‘cause he thinks arguing with Keith about whatever that was is more important than my sister getting some rest in the quiet of her bedchamber.”

Shiro laughed, but blushed. “I’m your commanding officer.”   
Lance’s eyes flickered to Allura. “And you’re impeding my sister’s recovery. Please, either give her to me and I’ll take her, or leave Keith be and take her to her room yourself.”   
Shiro straightened. “Right. Yes. Sorry about that.” He turned to leave, Allura still tightly held in his arms.

It was somewhat hard for Shiro to reconcile everything about his brother being Galra, and he had admittedly pushed the blame for that off onto Allura, as well as his hurt over being ignored. But she had almost died, and if that had happened-- oh. Oh _no_. No no no no no no. This wasn’t happening. This was supposed to be a _crush_ , dammit. A source of far-off inspiration. He wasn’t meant to… oh no no no. This was bad. This was really, really bad.

Honestly, it would have been better to keep blaming her for Keith being Galra. (It also would have been better if she hadn’t nearly died and he hadn’t decided that he should carry her, but that was out of his hands.) It would have been better to slowly fade to friendship, because in all honesty, he was a pilot with debilitating mental illness and a prosthetic leading a bunch of kids around trying to save the universe and she was a beautiful, fierce alien queen who probably had a _hundred_ suitors before the war and had not let the genocide of Altea stop her, just _fuel_ her. He admired that most, but the problem now was that he knew her as a person. As Allura, not as the queen, and he knew she hid her pain just like him. Somehow that did not really help the problem of being in love with her.

Hunk did not have this problem in life. He ran (bounced, mostly, due to the lower gravity of the Balmera compared to Earth) out of the castle, almost immediately bumping into Shay.   
He wrapped her in a big bear hug.   
“Is this an act of aggression, Yellow One?” Rax demanded.   
“Nah, man. Affection.” Hunk grinned at Shay, then looked around. “Whoa, it’s so beautiful out.”

“Queen Allura has restored life to the Balmera.” Shay smiled. “She is healthier now than I have ever seen her.”   
“I have only seen the Balmera like this when I was a youngling.” Shay’s grandmother commented. “Before the Galra came.”   
“How is the Queen?” Shay asked. “We have much to thank her for.”

“She’s fine, just exhausted.” Hunk replied, a huge grin on his face. “Thank you, all of you. We really couldn’t have done this without you guys.”   
Shay smiled back, before wrapping him in a hug. “Thank _you_ for giving us the sky back.”   
Pidge chose this moment to pop up out of seemingly nowhere. “Yes. Excellent.”

“Where did you come from?!” Hunk demanded.   
“I followed you out. I sensed Shirogane emotions going down.” Pidge adjusted her glasses. True to form, that was when Keith let out his anguished yell.   
“Is he alright?” Rax asked.

“He’s fine. He’s just Texan.” Pidge replied. “His family moved back and forth between where we lived for his mom’s job and the South for his dad’s.”   
The Balmerans stared at her blankly.   
“What is… a South?” Shay asked tentatively.

Pidge frowned in concentration for a moment. “You know what, it’ll take too long to explain. The real reason I came out here was to ask why the Balmera attacked us.”   
Shay released Hunk, and knelt to the ground. Then she rose. “The Balmera did not attack.”   
“She kinda did.” Hunk replied. “Yellow’s pretty banged up because of her.”

Shay shook her head. “No. She restrained herself. You saw what she wrought upon Zarkon’s abomination. To Balmera, you and the creature were two giant beings using her as a battleground. She recognized that you hurt her less, but that could have been for any number of reasons. She does not know of Voltron.”   
“You got lucky, Yellow One.” Rax hissed. “Do not forget Balmera’s mercy.”

His grandmother knocked him on the head. “Were you raised by Galra, Rax? Be polite to our guests. They saved us.”   
“Balmera saved us.” Rax protested. “As she always has, and always will.”   
“Hush, boy. The Balmera needed their team.” The grandmother turned to the Paladins. “Now, do you require anything?”

“We’ll take the prisoners the Galra brought, if you don’t mind.” Hunk replied.   
“And any data from the Galra commanders.” Pidge added, before whistling. Rover came zipping out of the castle. “Rover will help us get the specific data we need.”   
Shay turned to Hunk. “You have subverted a Galra droid? Truly you are masters of technology.”   
“N-nah. Pidge got the droid on her own.” Hunk explained.

“And what were you doing?” Rax scoffed.   
“Hunk was taking out an ion cannon on a Galra flagship with Lance.” Pidge replied calmly. “We ended up not having to fight that ship at all thanks to them. And there are only two survivors of that particular ship, and they’re both in our brig. Don’t fuck with Voltron.”   
“What is a fuck?” Shay asked.

Hunk brought his hands together in front of his face. “We need to stop teaching aliens that word if we’re not gonna explain it.”   
“What are you talking about?” Pidge asked. “I’m going to teach Lance _all_ the Earth swear words.”   
Hunk sighed. “Which way are the prisoners and the information?” All the Balmerans pointed, and Hunk saluted. “Thank you.”

He and Pidge made their way to the site. Pidge hacked the information, while Hunk set about freeing the prisoners. They were all haggard looking, of different shapes and sizes and species, but there weren’t many of them.   
“Hey, is this everyone?” Hunk asked.   
They stared at him.

“Um… I’m not Galra? I’m with Voltron, I’m here to rescue you guys.” Hunk said, before shooting off the locks on their cells. Pidge appeared in the doorway. “Hunk, let’s go! I think I found some new information on my dad and--”

“The Matt!” One alien yelled.   
“The Matt has returned to us!” Another said.   
They all broke into an impromptu rendition of ‘Under the Sea’. Hunk backed up. “You’re… seeing this too? Right? This isn’t just some weird Balmera fever dream?”

“Just sing.” Pidge muttered to him out of the corner of her mouth. “Shiro’s gonna be pissed if we fight the emaciated prisoners.”   
“ _I see what’s happening yeah_.” Hunk began. “ _You’re face to face with greatness and it’s strange_.”   
The aliens stopped, stared at him, then began to join in.   
“Wasn’t it the Little Mermaid originally?” Pidge asked. “Why did you switch to Moana?”   
Hunk made a face and hand gesture that Pidge took together to mean that he had panicked. In any case, the prisoners didn’t seem to mind.

It was a simple matter to lead them back to the castle. They received many, many odd looks from the Balmerans, but the prisoners were complacent. Keith was sharpening a knife in the foyer when they returned. “Why… are you singing Disney songs with a bunch of Galra prisoners?”   
“They mistook me for Matt.” Pidge replied. “By the time I had corrected that misapprehension, they had attached themselves to Hunk’s powerful baritone.”

“I am Lord of Song!” Hunk announced, before leading his troupe elsewhere.   
“I wish that was the weirdest thing I’ve seen today.” Pidge yawned. “But Lance made out with you, despite evidence of you being a cattle wrestler.”   
“It’s _rustler_ , and I’ve never stolen a cow in my life!” Keith protested.   
“Not yet.” Pidge patted his shoulder. “Not yet. I’m going to go get some shut eye. Please make Hunk and friends shut up.”   
“Nah,” Keith replied. “That’s not how we do this in Texas.”

Pidge raised a middle finger at him, before leaving. For the moment, the castle was quiet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hunk in the original transcript (roughly paraphrased): "I bet Rolo and Nyma told the Galra we were coming to _this specific Balmera._ Dirty traitors." 
> 
> Speaking of which, Rolo and Nyma will appear soon I promise. They're just for something big. (I may have already promised this. Worry not.)


	9. Hunk is what is needed in this trying time

“Alright, Rover, start filming.” Pidge was in the hangar now, specifically Green’s chamber.  
“We’re here today to talk about Voltron. _Basically_ , it’s an alien robot made from five lion robots like this one.” She went and tapped Green on the leg. “Each lion has a pilot, and mine is pretty obviously this lovely lady right here.”

Green gave her a soft purr, moving to look at her. Pidge walked back closer to Rover. “Voltron is… actually, Rover, the castle might have footage from when we fought the Balmera. If not, I bet Black has it.”

Rover beeped, and Pidge moved through the hangars. “This is Blue, she’s Lance’s lion. She’s the reason we’re here in the first place-- she was on Earth in a cave in the desert. Keith got kicked out, and started living in said desert. He found Blue’s cave, deciphered the marks, and realized that they had a specific date embedded in them. Now, he _says_ it foretold the date that Shiro was supposed to return, but that’s just happenstance.”

Pidge paused here, and turned to Rover. “Also, Professor Higgins? I’m _really sorry_ about you wiping out chasing after us. I understand that you were just trying to do your job, even if your job was experimenting on my friend. I, too, sometimes wish I could experiment on Shiro and his arm.”

With that, Pidge turned back to Blue. “My personal theory is that the markings Keith deciphered were actually about Lance’s pod breaking open ten thousand years after the warranty expired or something. I don’t know, it wasn’t well-explained. What happened is that Lance was in one of the pods shown in the last video, escaping a genocide of his people.”

Blue turned to look at Pidge, rumbling quietly. Pidge sighed. “Yeah, that’s—that’s really why we’re here. With the lions, with _Voltron_ , we are helping save planets and so many people from the Galra. They’re the same people—cat-alien things, really, I’ll show you later—who took Shiro’s arm and gave him PTSD, and who destroyed Lance and Allura’s civilization and then proceeded to take over the universe.”

Pidge and Rover proceeded to Red’s Hangar. Pidge sighed loudly. “Well, at least I found Lance...” Then she cupped her hands. “Lance! Stop making out with Keith! I need you to come over here and help me prove aliens exist!”  
Lance and Keith looked up from where they had been leaning against the Red Lion, before coming over.  
“You called?” Lance asked.  
“I am down for proving aliens exist.” Keith added.

Pidge fixed him with a look, then turned to Lance. “Can you shift?”  
“Shift how?” Lance asked.  
“I don’t know. Make yourself look like… I don’t know. You pick.”  
Lance paused for a moment, then grew taller, a beard sprouting from his face. His facial structure rearranged under the skin. “So… I decided to look like my father.” He rubbed his beard. “Dear Al, this thing is _itchy_.” As quickly as he had changed, he was back.

Keith stared at him. “How…?”  
Lance shrugged. “We’re a diplomatic race. It’s easier if other races can trust us, and _that_ is easier when we look like them.”  
“What’s your true form?” Keith asked.  
Lance frowned. “You wouldn’t like it… Allura said we shouldn’t use it...”

“Please?” Pidge asked.  
Lance sighed, and his face began to ripple again. His teeth grew sharper, poking out the edges of his mouth. He was slightly taller, with purple at the roots of his white hair, fading into lavender and back to white. There were also purple freckles near his hairline. Lance stretched a little. “That feels _so_ _good_.”

Keith made his usual dying cat sound. Lance morphed back so quickly he nearly gave himself whiplash. “I… I’m sorry. Please just forget about it. I can look however you want me to.” He sounded like he was on the verge of begging.  
“I am now uncomfortable for multiple reasons.” Pidge commented. “Lance, you were lovely. _Right_ , Keith?” Pidge elbowed Keith hard in the side.

“Ow! What was that for?” Keith demanded.  
“You are the worst boyfriend an alien could ask for.” Pidge said. “Be like Hunk. Hunk has yet to burn down Shay’s stuff, and he doesn’t stare like a dumbass when Shay’s insecure about her appearance. Now that I think about it, Shiro has yet to do that too. You are officially the worst boyfriend to an alien on board the ship, congratulations.”

Lance laughed uncertainly. “No, he’s… he’s fine.”  
“You don’t have to lie.” Pidge said, patting his hand. “Do not worry, you are an excellent boyfriend from what I can tell.”  
Keith glared at her, before turning back to Lance. “You’re beautiful, you don’t have to hide it. I… I actually think you look better as _you_.”  
Lance’s face lit up, and he pulled Keith in for a kiss.

Pidge made a face at Rover, and they left the hangar. Next stop was the kitchen, where Hunk’s newly healed hoard of disciples had accumulated.  
“The Matt!” They cheered when they saw Pidge. Hunk took the opportunity to duck under the counter. Pidge made her way over. “Why are we hiding?” She whispered.

“They won’t leave me alone.” Hunk whispered back. “Apparently they see the food I’ve been stress-baking as a gift.”  
“Same.” Pidge agreed.  
“They won’t leave me alone!” Hunk hissed. “I can barely pee in peace!”  
“Have you thought about siccing Ted the yelmor on them?” Pidge asked.

Hunk shot her an unimpressed look. “Ted mostly sleeps. He’s not an attack dog, Pidge.”  
“Stop spoiling your yelmor.” Pidge ordered. “Anyway, as soon as Allura and Shiro come back from whatever they’re doing--”  
“According to Lance, Allura’s asleep. No one knows where Shiro is.” Hunk interrupted.

“Right, well, when she wakes up, we’ll ask her to send your buddies on their way. Easy.” Pidge said.  
Hunk sighed happily. “Thank you. ...are you filming again?”  
“Yep.” Pidge replied.

Hunk waved at Rover. “Hey, Mama, Mom. We’re doing great-- I have a fanclub of sorts. And we just saved a planet. That was cool.”  
“Mrs. Garret, Other Mrs. Garret, your son is a hero.” Pidge said to Rover. “You should be really proud of him.”  
“Aw, thanks Pidge.” Hunk smiled. “Maybe you’re not such a gremlin after all.”

Pidge gave him a fist bump. “Where’s Coran?”  
“He’s feeding the prisoners.” Hunk replied. “Our prisoners, I mean. Not my followers.”  
“Cool. See you later.” Pidge dodged the hoard, then headed to the dungeon.

Coran was sitting backwards on her chair, chatting with Kurok while Sendak glared at the ceiling.  
“Wassup?!” Pidge called.  
Coran jumped a bit. “Oh! Pidge! I was just talking to this very charming Galra.”  
Kurok giggled. “Oh, stop.”

“Please, do.” Sendak agreed. “My will to live is slowly slipping away.”  
Pidge nodded. “Cool, cool… so, Coran, I’m filming with the droid to send stuff back to Earth. Is there anything you wanna say?”

“Give me my arm back?” Sendak tried. “Release me? Your planet will be crushed under the boot of Emperor Zarkon?” He was ignored.  
“What _is_ your planet like, Green Paladin?” Kurok asked. “Is it hard, being away from your family when you are only just a kit?”  
“I mean, my family was mostly kidnapped by Zarkon, so...” Pidge shrugged. “I miss them a lot, but I have a duty here.”

“Right you do, Number Five.” Coran stood and ruffled her hair. “I’m proud of you and the others for wanting to remain here and help save the universe. All of your parents must be weeping with pride at having such strong warriors for children.”  
“I mean, there is probably a lot of weeping going on.” Pidge agreed. “Hey, Coran? Can I ask you about Altea?”

“Certainly! What do you want to know?” Coran asked, pulling on his moustache.  
“What was it like?”  
“Well, our sun was a dwarf star, and we were fairly close to it compared to what I’ve heard of you and your ‘sol’. As such, most of Altea was covered by the desert, with two similar cultures; the North, centred around the North Pole of Altea, and the South, around the South Pole. The North was where King Alfor and I were from. It was the technological heart of Altea, no matter what Allura says! The _South_ is where a large portion of the farmers were found.”

“Huh, cool.” Pidge grinned. “And Galaris?”  
“Beautiful.” Kurok sighed dreamily. “It’s got a lot of water and tall, strong mountains to shade us. My family lives on the edge of the great Forest of Lan. Folktales say that the forest used to be a city ten thousand years ago, in the time of Zarkon’s father Lotark.”  
“It was...” Coran muttered. “Lancelspire. Idras and Alfor were married there… what happened to Lancelspire?”

“It was forgotten.” Sendak huffed. “Leave it be, Altean.”  
“After the attack on Altea, Lancelspire apparently was taken back by Lan himself.” Kurok explained.  
“Lance?” Pidge asked. “ _Lance_ attacked the city?”  
“Not the Altean Prince. Our god of the sky, Lan.” Kurok explained. “His twin is Lot, the god of the water. Lot is responsible for the life of our planet, Lan is responsible for death.”

“...was Lance named after a god of death?” Pidge asked Coran.  
“Among other things. When you only have two gods, they take care of a lot.” Coran noted. “However, Lan is not meant to be wicked. He’s more powerful than Lot in classic mythology, but also wiser and more merciful. He’s a leader, and a fighter. Many Galra named their children after him in our time.”  
Kurok, who had been watching Coran with a dreamy grin, shook his head. “Not any more. The name Lan--”

“Those named after Lan are more carefully scrutinized.” Sendak broke in. “After Altea was destroyed, there was a cultural upheaval on Galaris. The majority of the populace is fairly rural now. Galaris has been forgotten by Zarkon, and is almost entirely separated from the Empire. Lancelspire was destroyed and taken by the forest after Haggar decreed that it would be so. Lancelspire was the cultural center of Galaris ten thousand years ago, was it not?”

Coran nodded, and Sendak closed his eyes. “The witch destroyed it as penance then. However, in university, I wrote my thesis on whether it could have been destroyed in memory of Altea and Princess Idras. Lancelspire was known as her city. They were going to have their second child there, had complications with the war not arisen at the time.”

“The war?” Pidge asked. “Also, you nearly killed said second child.”  
“You majored in history in university?” Coran asked.  
Sendak opened his good eye again. “The war that led to Voltron being created. And yes, I did. For a time, I was planning on becoming a history professor.”

“The Galra have history professors and universities?” Pidge said incredulously.  
“Why not?” Kurok asked. “We’re not just a military, you know. Even if Zarkon has ignored us, we’re happy as we are.”  
“Why is Sendak not a history professor then? Why did you sign up for the military?” Coran asked Kurok.

Sendak sighed. “Go on, Kurok. Tell him.”  
“You… want me to tell them?”  
“Well you’re going to do it anyway. Might as well seem like I have some control over the situation.” Sendak huffed.  
Kurok cleared his throat. “I… we were… chosen, so to speak, by the military. Every family has to give one family member… don’t get me wrong, the military is extremely prestigious, and many volunteer of their own free will! It pays well, and for the most part, it’s not that dangerous.”

“ _Wasn’t_ that dangerous.” Sendak interrupted.  
Kurok shrank into himself. “But… we put ourselves in university, where the scouts would have been able to see us better. Even if your family already gave a child, if they put one in university, they often get taken. Like… my sister. She died in a skirmish with rebels on Thalata.”

“I’m so sorry for your loss.” Coran said.  
Kurok smiled weakly. “It’s… not as bad as yours. And there are plenty Galra born off-world.”  
“Half of which are hybrids, a quarter of _that_ present as Galra and are drafted.” Sendak huffed. “But yes, good point Kurok. As well as the sentries, the Galra Empire is well defended.”

Pidge cleared her throat. “That was… weirdly informative.”  
Kurok smiled more genuinely. “Happy to help!”  
“ _No_ , Kurok!” Sendak hissed. “And besides, that gave the Paladin no knowledge about our troop movements or anything _useful_ so don’t feel--”  
“Wait, Kurok, was this the same sister who would kill you for hurting a child?” Pidge interrupted.

Kurok nodded slowly. “Jella, short for Jelaka. She was shot the day I was assigned to the _Na’dir_. I didn’t find out for nineteen quintants.” He hugged himself. “She never wanted to be a soldier either. She wanted to be a teacher. She loved kits. She always told us she was going to have so many of her own.”  
“That’s why you spared me.” Pidge said. “I mean, you also saved my life, but when we first met, you spared me.”  
“Again, you were the only one with the weapon.” Kurok remarked dryly.

Sendak sighed, exasperated, nonetheless. “Lan damn you, Kurok. _Stop_ helping the enemy. What, next you will announce you were the one who blew up the _Na’dir_?”  
“Actually, that was you. I told you the ion cannon was damaged, and you refused to listen.” Kurok pointed out. “Everything has been your fault.”  
“ _Argh_ , why haven’t I ripped your tongue out yet?” Sendak demanded. “Maybe then you’d stop singing your insidious Earth songs.”  
“I, personally, love them.” Coran said. “What’s that one, Pidge, where the uh… ‘wake me up, before you go-go’… what’s that called?”

“'Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go', by Wham.” Pidge replied.  
Coran nodded. “Love that one.”  
“So do I.” Kurok smiled at him beatifically, and Pidge had a sudden reminder of Keith and Lance’s display of PDA.  
“I, personally, hate that one the most.” Sendak commented. “Partially on principle, because I hate all of you. I also hate it because it wriggles itself into your mind and will not leave.”  
Pidge nodded at him. “That’s the idea. Hey, Coran, I want to wrap up my video with Shiro. Where is he?”

“He _should_ still be with the queen...” Coran noted.  
“Isn’t she asleep?” Pidge asked.  
“Then ask the computer.” Coran shrugged.

“Fine. Rover, connect to the castle interface. Where is the black paladin?”  
“The black paladin is in Queen Allura’s room.” The castle computer responded.  
“Kurok, I lost my arm, so I need you to put your hands together under your chin and imply that suspicious goings-on are happening.” Sendak ordered.

“Will do.” Kurok put his hands together, almost as if in prayer, under his chin, and raised an eyebrow. “ _Suspicious_.”  
“Good enough.” Sendak decided.  
“Weird.” Pidge replied. “And _nah_ , they’re not… she’s exhausted. They’re not making the beast with two backs.”

“What?” Coran asked.  
“Knocking boots?” Pidge tried.  
“Is… is this an Earth thing?” Kurok asked, looking from Pidge to Coran.  
“Playing hide the sausage?” Pidge asked.  
“Are you having a stroke?” Sendak demanded.

“ _Argh_ , they’re not having sex!” Pidge hissed.  
“All of those meant _sex_?” Coran asked. “Why not just say sex?”  
There was silence for a moment, then Pidge nodded. “You have a point. Anyway, I’m off.” She left the dungeon, and made her way to Allura’s room. She opened the door, casting light over Allura and Shiro. He was still in his full armor, and was on top of Allura’s blankets while she was under them. Pidge slowly closed the door again. Shiro looked peaceful for once.

Shiro was indeed at peace. His overall exhaustion and sleep deprivation had finally caught up with him, and he had crashed. Admittedly, he had planned to return to make sure that Lance and Keith didn’t kill each other (literally, or _la petite mort_ ). But Allura had stirred, and grabbed his wrist as he put her down. She had grasped it in her vice-like grip, and sleepily commanded him to stay, so what was he to do? He kept as much propriety between them as possible without borrowing Keith’s bayard to put between them.

Somehow during his sleep, his prosthetic had gone over her waist, pulling her close. Allura had responded by nestling closer to his body heat-- Alteans in general ran at much colder temperatures than humans, at about 20 degrees Celsius, and while Allura and Lance were slightly warmer, Alteans were more likely to have someone sleeping nearby to steal heat from. Humans, who in general are roughly 37 degrees Celsius, provided the perfect heat source for an exhausted Altean.

For her part, Allura hadn’t really been thinking about that. She hadn’t really been thinking of anything really. Her whole body ached, and she felt empty. She wanted someone to hold her, and she _particularly_ did not want the warmth to go away. Of course, she hadn’t undressed herself and Shiro was not about to do so, leading to the problem of heat being hard to access through both her armor and Shiro’s. This, of course, led to Allura pressing herself up against Shiro more and more while she was asleep in a subconscious attempt to get to the heat.

Pidge did not know this. Pidge just saw Shiro and Allura spooning, even if Shiro was over the covers, and decided that this was normal, and furthermore that they should both rest even further. Rover was a robot, and did not have an opinion.  
“That’s getting cut, by the way.” Pidge told Rover. “There is no doubt in my mind that The General would somehow blast off into space to shake some sense into _both_ of her sons if I showed that.”  
Rover beeped in agreement. Its databanks did not register General Sakura Shirogane, but it did recognize several high-ranking Galra generals whose behavior matched Pidge’s statement. Rover was also under the opinion that Pidge’s film would be picked up by the Galra soon, but did not offer this information. Pidge edited the footage, and uploaded it.

In Samoa, Masina chuckled softly. “Teuila, come look. The Holt girl has uploaded another video.”  
“Is Iosefa in it?” Teuila asked without turning around. She dried a cup and slid it back into place.  
“Of course.” Masina said. “It’s also fun to watch these children in space.”  
Teuila gave a sigh of long suffering. “Masina, I don’t really care about them. It sounds callous, but it’s like those school recitals from when Iosefa was younger. We did go for anyone else’s children then, and we don’t now.”

“True, but the Holt girl has important information about what they’re doing there.” Masina said. “But let’s start with Iosefa—our son the charmer is at it again.”  
Teuila pulled up a kitchen chair, and Masina played the part with Hunk and the aliens. “Freaky looking, aren’t they?”

“True. But Iosefa’s their hero.” Masina smiled softly. “They have good taste.”  
“They were humming Disney songs.” Teuila said.  
Masina laughed. “You can’t prove that.”  
“They _were_.” Teuila said, leaning her head against Masina’s. “I’m glad that Iosefa is happy and loved.”  
Masina smiled. “I agree. I wish he’d come home soon though.”

“How many parents can say that their child is saving the universe?” Teuila asked.  
“Holt’s husband is off in space, probably dead. The Air Force woman and her husband have two, so that makes about five here on Earth.” Masina replied.  
Teuila chuckled. “You know what I mean. Iosefa was always going to go off into space. He’s pursuing his dreams.”

In America, the Shiroganes were staring at the wall. Akira had constructed a huge conspiracy board for Voltron, partially comprised of Keith’s research from the shack, partially screenshots from Pidge’s videos and pieces of paper explaining the information underneath in Sakura’s neat handwriting.

“Takashi wasn’t there.” Sakura spoke first.  
“Katherine said that he was asleep.” Akira replied. “He looked tired last time we saw him.”  
“And thin!” Sakura agreed, before turning to her husband. “You’ve outdone yourself with this one.”  
Akira beamed at the praise. “Thank you, Sakura.”

Sakura took his hand. “I know I have been… emotionally closed off since the boys left, but… I’m sorry, Akira.”  
“I understand.” Akira said. “I’m not going to say it didn’t hurt, but I get it. I’m just glad you’re back.”  
Sakura grinned, and pulled him in for a kiss.

They were interrupted by a text from Colleen Holt. It simply read, ‘come over’.  
It was soon followed by another one. ‘come through the window the reporters are staking out my door’.  
Akira snapped a picture of the corkboard on his phone. “Admittedly, Dr. Kexlan has never asked me to do _that_.”  
Sakura grinned. “Dr. Kexlan is firmly against any type of adventure.”  
“Not true. He got into the field because he was inspired by that Harrison Ford movie where he melts the Nazis’ faces with the Ark of the Covenant.” Akira mimed face melting.

Sakura raised an eyebrow. “ _But_ he’s not as fun as Colleen and Samuel.”  
“At this point, I’m somewhat certain that Colleen is a retired spy.” Akira replied, before they got in the car.  
Sakura snorted. “It’s cute that you think she’s retired, Akira.”  
“...alright, you win. Your friends terrify me.” Akira said before they made their way to Colleen’s house.

Back on board the ship, Shiro and Allura finally woke up.  
“Oh my God, Prin—Queen--Allura I am _so sorry_.” Shiro said, leaping up from the bed and backing away.  
Allura looked down at her armor, then shuffled exhausted, into her bathroom, snagging a nightdress on her way. She changed, then returned to her bed. “Come back, and leave your armor this time.”

“I-I… _what_?” Shiro asked.  
Allura patted the place next to her. “You’re warm.”  
Shiro stared at the bed, then at her. “I… I overstepped my boundaries before.”  
“Clearly you didn’t as I had a hard time getting warm.” Allura grumbled. “I had to press myself right up to you, did you realize?”

“God help me.” Shiro murmured as Allura sat up, now groggy. “Allura, you should rest.”  
“I can relax from the helm.” Allura huffed. “You’re welcome to accompany me.”  
“You… no, please sit down.” Shiro said, moving so that he was on the same side of the bed as her. “You can barely walk.”

“I’m not out there on the frontlines like my brother.” Allura rolled her eyes. “Nor am I a statue.”  
“Allura, please. It’s a miracle that you lived, according to Coran. Don’t push yourself so quickly, especially in this moment of respite.” Shiro begged.  
Allura sighed. “I will… take it easy. But I will not spend all my time sleeping.”

“Fair enough.” Shiro agreed. “Um, I should go train...”  
“Help me to the helm?” Allura asked. “I’m… afraid of what will happen if I try to go on my own. Don’t tell Coran!” She said quickly.  
“I wouldn’t dream of it.” Shiro offered her his arm. “So, um… you mentioned a while back that Lance would be disowned if he became… intimate with someone?”

“In a way.” Allura said. “Why do you ask?”  
“Well, by human standards, what we just did was fairly intimate.”  
Allura raised an eyebrow. “Please, we weren’t even actually touching.”  
“How intimate would Lance have to be to actually be disowned?” Shiro asked. “You said sex is a part of life...”

“It is.” Allura said coolly. “As are children. Almost every king of Altea has had illegitimate children before becoming bonded.”  
“Bonded?” Shiro asked.  
“Bonded.” Allura confirmed. “In Altean culture, it’s a large part of the marriage, but can exist without it. It’s… cementing a connection that will be upheld throughout the participants’ lives. It is a symbol of deep romantic affection to even consider it.”

“And… Lance would be disowned if he were to be bonded without marriage?”  
Allura shook her head. “He would be considered to actually _be_ married within Altean law. But bonds can only be broken if one participant dies, and it’s not always reciprocated. Altean courtship rituals have evolved to ensure that this will never happen to one that we care for. However, if Lance were to break tradition and bond without having the consent of his closest family, in this case being me, then he would be disowned and treated like a bastard.”

“Why not give consent then?”  
“I would only give consent to the worthiest and most serious of suitors.” Allura scoffed. “Not every backwater tramp we find upon a rural moon.”  
Shiro grimaced. “And… what if Keith and Lance want to bond?”  
Allura patted his arm. “I have already planned for this contingency, do not fear. As soon as I’m feeling better, I will have tea with Keith to assess his worthiness as a suitor for my brother.”

“And… you don’t worry about your own… bonding?” Shiro asked, looking at her.  
Allura nodded. “While it’s often a subconscious matter on both sides, and really only ‘activated’ by speaking feelings of deep love aloud, I know better than Lance. I am not just going to fall in love with the first pretty face that I see.”

Shiro blinked rapidly. “I… see… humans don’t have anything like that. I mean, we have marriage, but it’s… not like that. Not so intense.”  
“What do you mean?” Allura asked. “Humans don’t mate for life?”  
“Some do.” Shiro said hurriedly. “Like my parents, I can’t imagine them ever splitting up. But… some cheat, some get divorced...”

“Divorce?” Allura frowned. “What is ‘divorce’?”  
“It’s when two married people stop being married.”  
“So they die.”  
“No, no, they’re still alive. They can even marry again.” Shiro explained.

Allura stared at him for a moment, before moving along. “Thank you for this information. The fact that humans are not inherently monogamous is… interesting. This will definitely factor into the conversation when I talk to Keith.”  
“No no no no-- monogamy is considered _great_ on Earth in our culture!” Shiro said quickly. “Keith wouldn’t cheat on Lance or divorce him or anything!”

“Can you promise that?” Allura asked. “Can you _truly_ promise that? Because I do not want my brother to be left with an unrequited bond.”  
“I… Keith would never want to hurt Lance.” Shiro said.  
They reached the helm, and stepped inside.

The screen was cracked, Idras and Alfor were playing an Altean card game on the ceiling, and multiple consoles were sparking.  
“What happened?” Allura demanded.  
“What is happening…” Shiro added quietly.

Idras dropped down, and Alfor followed.  
“Hmm, the Black Paladin is shorter than I thought he would be.” Idras noted. “Still though, very handsome. I can see why you like him.”  
Alfor looked pointedly at the hole in Idras’ armor, then back at Allura. “Let’s leave Black Paladins alone, hmm?”

“What. Is. Happening.” Shiro repeated.  
“Someone left a corrupted crystal connected for too long, and it’s wreaking havoc on all the systems.” Idras clucked. “We are sporadically teleported around the castle unwillingly, the navigation’s gone completely, and bio-scans fluctuate between 3,000 and 4,000,000. There is no in between.”

“The screen overheated and cracked itself.” Alfor added. “At least it hasn’t reached the main engine yet...”  
The lights, and only the lights, went out. Alfor sighed. “Spoke too soon. I’d wager that the elevator is jammed, the ziplines are slinging back and forth on their own, and the pods are down completely.”

“You’re still here.” Allura said.  
“Yes, but we can’t get a message out to help you.” Idras said. “There’s no telling where we’ll be pulled next, and how the others are doing.”

Shiro tapped his helmet. “Paladins, come in.”  
“There’s a strong possibility that none of them are wearing their armor...” Allura realized. Then she looked up sharply at her parents. “Is the brig powered down?”  
“Probably.” Idras shrugged.

Ordinarily, Sendak would have tried to escape, but the brig had lost all power, including the anti-gravity. He was _not_ going through this one armed, dammit. “Your little Green Paladin thinks she’s so _clever_ , doesn’t she Altean? Well, this will not break me.”  
“Didn’t you already say that you wanted to die because of my near constant flirting with Coran?” Kurok asked.  
“Yes.” Sendak agreed. “Floating around will not drive me as insane as you two acting like giggling adolescents. _Gods_ , I hate my life.”

“To be fair, I don’t think that this was caused by Pidge.” Coran said. “The music and the floodlights have turned off.”  
“And yet, _you’re_ still here.” Sendak pointed out. “And _somehow_ you and Kurok are floating right next to each other.” It was true. Coran had pulled himself over to Kurok when the anti-gravity had turned off.

Coran had the decency to blush.  
Sendak sighed, and rubbed a hand over his face. “I’m tired. I want to go home. The food tastes terrible, I cannot sleep because of that annoying child, you two insist on _canoodling…_ if I give Voltron the information that they want, can I have a quick death?”  
“Sendak, you’re willing to do that?” Kurok asked.

Sendak bobbed up and down unhappily. “If I _said_ it, I _meant_ it, Kurok. Just like I meant all the times I called you a useless idiot.”  
“Oi! Kurok is very smart!” Coran said.  
Kurok’s face brightened. “Coran, you mean that?”  
“I do.” Coran said.

“I crave the sweet release of death.” Sendak interrupted. “Like a pregnant Klimowak after buntrellis, or a hungry weblum after planets and discarded quintessence. So, the sooner that you can get me one of the higher-ups… I’m assuming the Black Paladin, but also quite possibly the Altean queen, the sooner I can be released from this prison.”

“Sendak, suicide is never the answer.” Kurok said.  
Sendak resisted the urge to lunge at him through where the force-field had been. “Believe me, the reason they don’t allow me a weapon is out of fear for _you_. I’m simply being practical about what the Emperor will do to me once he realizes I gave information to Voltron. I have no intention of remaining _here_ until I die of old age, and you will no doubt be glad to be rid of me. A quick death is the best that I can hope for.”

“That’s… heavy, but understandable.” Coran said.  
Sendak nodded. “Yes. Well, can you scurry along and get one of the paladins--” The anti-gravity suddenly came back on, throwing them all to the floor. Along with it came the floodlights, music, and especially the forcefields. Coran was inside Kurok’s cell when it came back, effectively trapping him inside.  
“This is my personal hell. I want both of you to know that.” Sendak said.  
“You’ve told us.” Kurok said.  
“No, I _thought_ that was my personal hell. I didn’t realize it could get _so much worse_.” Sendak sneered.

Hunk was also in hell.  
More specifically, he was trapped in the room with his admirers. He could always escape through the vents, but Hunk had the sinking feeling that they’d follow him.  
“What should we do?” One asked.  
“We should sing!” Another said.

“Nope! No, no singing.” Hunk said. “We just need to wait for the power to come back.”  
“What if it never comes back?” One alien asked.  
Hunk stepped around the counter. “Hey. _Hey_. It’s going to come back, okay? There’s no way they’d let it go this long. Pidge is going to go searching for the crystal the _minute_ this affects her computer.”  
“What if the Galra attack while we’re like this?” Another asked.

Hunk took their hands in his. “Listen up. I’m not going to let anything happen to any of you, okay? I’m a paladin of Voltron, and we’re going to fight the Galra until our last breaths.”  
“Why?” Yet another alien asked.  
“Because when I went to that Balmera for the first time, I saw what the Galra were doing, _really_ doing. And I felt so helpless about it, even if we came back, and even if I didn’t know the people there that well.”

“Lord of Song?” Another alien asked.  
“Don’t call me that. My name’s Hunk, I just got swept up in the moment.” Hunk replied.  
“Yes, Lord Hunk. May we sing the Disney songs?”  
They all looked at him hopefully.

Hunk sighed. “Why Disney songs?”  
“Well, we all know them. And the singing comforts us.” The alien shrank into themselves.  
Hunk sat cross-legged on the floor, and the aliens followed suit. “Hey, I’m scared too. I mean, we were shot into space about a month ago, and I’m still not sure if I can do this. I haven’t seen either of my moms in a really long time, and I miss them. I’m not some amazing warrior like Keith and Shiro, I’m not royalty like Lance and Allura, and sometimes I feel like I’m kind of outside my team. My point is, it’s okay to be scared, and worried, and upset. It’s okay to use something to cope.”

“How do you cope, Hunk?”  
“I usually bake.” Hunk replied. “I’m glad that you guys liked the cookies I made.”  
“They were delicious.” An alien told him. “Thank you, Paladin Hunk.”  
Hunk grinned. “No problem, I guess. That being said, I’m getting a little bit sick of Disney. Can we sing songs from all of our cultures?”

“But we don’t know them.”  
“We can teach other. A little bit of home until Voltron sends you guys on your way.” Hunk smiled. “I’ll start, Mama used to sing this one to me when I was younger.” He took a deep breath and began singing.

As for Lance and Keith, they had been training before the sporadic bursts of power. Specifically, they had been trying to take out the gladiator together.  
Keith subscribed to the Shirogane school of thinking that to properly woo someone, you must impress them by beating them at something they’re good at. Or at least impress them. Sakura’s lesson in dating had been worded like a military maneuver, complete with a very odd diagram that looked more like troop movements than anything relevant. Actually, Sakura was very good with engaging Keith in the way he liked to be taught, but still.

The fact remained that Keith and Lance were currently embroiled in an intense battle. The lights flickered on and off for a few minutes, before finally shutting off entirely. The gladiator did not pause.  
“Keith, back up.” Lance warned. “It’s set to intruder mode.”  
“What?” Keith demanded.

“ _Back up_.” Lance ordered. “Before it hurts you.”  
Keith took a hesitant step back. As he moved, the gladiator turned to look at him. He barely had time to process anything before it swung at him.  
“Disengage!” He shouted as he brought up his bayard.

Lance shot at the gladiator, but each shot was deflected by its staff. It turned to look at Lance, and this is the moment when Alfor and Idras were pulled to the training room. Alfor immediately tried to rush it, with little success. Idras smoothly jumped around it, and jammed her fist into the back of its head, pulling out its gears. Sparking wildly, the gladiator collapsed. Idras tossed the gears to the floor. “Are you two alright?”

“Fine.” Keith said softly. So much for impressing Lance.  
Lance looked like he was going to cry. “I thought… I thought you’d been deleted… how are you both here together? Especially when the power’s out?”  
Alfor sighed. “The power isn’t out. Only certain systems are. The castle is still flying, but automatic navigation is off, for instance.”  
Lance paled. “We could go flying right into a star.”

Idras stretched. “Worse. If the system has enough of Allura’s –or yours, for that matter-- quintessence stored, it could open a wormhole. With the damaged navigation providing the coordinates, there’s no telling where you could end up. You could feasibly open a wormhole to the center of a planet.”  
“Oh God...” Keith stared at her. “Oh _God_.”  
“Worse if they get shunted into the airspace of somewhere like Elcmanus.” Alfor argued. “If the systems come back on and they decide to check it out--”

“Red wouldn’t let them.” Idras interrupted, tapping her sternum pointedly. “And Allances knows better than to land on that planet. He’s a smart boy, Alfor.”  
Alfor looked like he was going to say something, then stopped himself. “I… your sister and the new Black Paladin are trapped in the control room. I don’t know where Coran is, but I think he’s in the dungeon. The Yellow Paladin is comforting the...guests... and we haven’t seen the Green Paladin. It’s up to you two to get to the crystal and get her out.”

“Hang on, what happens to life support systems out here when that crystal goes out?” Keith demanded. “It was hard enough on Arus. And isn’t the crystal _in_ the control room? How the hell are we supposed to get it there?”  
“Good questions, new Red Paladin. I like you.” Idras patted him on the shoulder. “Alfor? This was your uncle’s castle.”

“Therlan was not my uncle.” Alfor snapped. “He was a bastard.”  
“Farla was your daughter.” Idras replied, spine straightening to make her seem more imperious.  
Lance jumped between them and Keith. “Wow, _so nice_ that you could meet my parents, haha… to answer your questions, we should be fine. The Castle oxygen supply will build up--”  
“Humans breathe oxygen.” Keith interrupted. “Wait, how do you not breathe oxygen?”

“Alteans adapt.” Lance said, before shrugging, relieved. “Excellent, then. The oxygen flow will be taken care of, that’s very important. And we could push the spare down the hall.”  
“And what about the lift? The command room is on another level.” Keith replied.  
Lance closed his eyes. “We need to get to my room.”

Alfor made a choking noise. “ _Allances_ , now is not the time...”  
“Don’t listen to him.” Idras winked. “Your Red Paladin seems very nice.”  
Lance covered his face to hide his blush. “I swear to Al… Hreth left a layout of the castle on her shelves.”  
“So we’ll take the vents to your room?” Keith asked.  
Lance shook his head. “They will take us as far as the corridor outside my room, but my room actually has very poor ventilation. It’s surrounded by the castle’s water supply.”  
“...My room has great ventilation.” Keith said.

“Your room is right over the engines, and is the closest thing to the Altean desert I’ve seen in ten thousand years.” Lance snarked. “But you have a good point. We can drop down into your room and then get into mine.”  
“What if the power’s off though?” Alfor asked. “The door will be as good as locked.”  
“...Keith, you got into Myri’s room.” Lance said after a second.

“Wh—I said I was sorry!” Keith hissed.  
Lance smiled. “Yeah, but Keith—you could get into my room.”  
“Oh.” Keith said. “Yes. Right.”  
“It’s okay, Red’s new Paladin.” Idras said, leaning against Alfor. “Both of your predecessors were quick to anger. It’s part of the job.”

Keith nodded slowly. “Right… Lance, I’m going to find a vent. Can you… um… do you want to talk to…?”  
Lance’s face lit up. “Thank you, Keith.”  
Keith left the Alteans, and Lance turned back to his parents.

“You’re not going to form a bond yet, are you?” Alfor glanced back at Keith, who was hacking at a vent. “Red Paladins can be impulsive and thoughtless at times, Lance.”  
“They’re also very passionate and protective.” Idras punched Alfor’s shoulder gently. “I’m sure the new one will be fine, Alfor.”  
Lance cleared his throat to get their attention. “I… how are you both…?”  
“The corrupted crystal shorted out our hologram. Right now, we’re manifesting by the circuits that usually create one of the invisible mazes.” Alfor said.  
Lance drew a deep breath. “You… I’ve been avoiding you.”  
“You have.” Idras agreed.

“Because you’re not them.” Lance said suddenly. The room went quiet, the only sound Keith trying to use his bayard as a crowbar.  
“Allances...” Alfor reached for Lance’s shoulder. Lance jerked back. “ _Don’t touch me_. You’re not them. My parents died ten thousand years ago. And even if they hadn’t, you’re… off, somehow. Your system files are corrupted, aren’t they?”

“Allances, how could you say that?” Idras demanded.  
Lance made eye contact with her. “Because _you_ brought up Farla. You never bring her up, at least, not in front of me. Father was the one who insisted on treating her as his child, and encouraged Allura and I to see her as our sister. After all, he saw Therlan’s treatment from Alvaris, and he was almost demoted to a bastard himself. You’re not them in a myriad of other ways, of course, but these are the most damning.”

Alfor flinched back as if struck. “I’m… your father...”  
“And you’re missing some of the memories that made you who you are.” Lance replied. “You’re not even King Alfor anymore, are you? You’re like a painting of him, or a mirror version. But you’re not Alfor, and you’re not Idras.”  
“How? I’ve backed up my files long before--” Idras began.

“Because you treat me the way you treat Allura.” Lance replied. “We don’t gossip over boys, I would come to my mother when I felt sad, or scared, or _alone_. The fact that you would even treat me like Allura _once_ is a red flag.”  
Idras reached for him, but he moved back. She didn’t follow. “I’m sorry, Allances.”

Lance activated his bayard. “I have to go help Keith, he’s going to break his bayard at this point. And… it’s not your fault that you’re not my parents.”  
With that, he turned on his heel, and shot the corners of the vent. He shifted his bayard back to make it more portable, and clipped it to his belt. “Follow me.” He ordered Keith.

Keith stowed his bayard and followed him into the vents. “Um… you seem tense.”  
“Yep.” Lance answered.  
Keith could respect the quiet. Hell, he lived in the desert alone for months and hadn’t gone crazy. But Lance was loud, and vivacious, or at least acted like it. “Do… do you want to talk about it?”  
“Not particularly.” Lance replied.  
Keith could respect that.

They made their way through the vents without much talk, dropping down in the hallway.  
“Oh thank God, we still have power...” Keith stopped talking as Hunk’s door opened and a huge bear stepped out.  
“That’s not a yelmor.” Lance hissed. “That’s a klanmuirl.”  
“It’s a _pun_.” Keith groaned. “Hunk named him _Ted_ \--”

Lance grabbed Keith’s hand and ran. Ted followed, roaring loudly. Pidge poked her head out of her room. “Keep it down, I’m coding Rover-- _is that a fucking bear_?!”  
“No time to talk, just run!” Lance ordered.

Pidge and Rover quickly decided that wherever Lance and Keith were going was safer than sticking around with the bear. Lance banged on the door to the common area. “Come on, come on, come on...”  
“Draw your bayards!” Keith ordered.  
“I don’t have a dang bayard!” Pidge replied, darting into a service cupboard to presumably hide. Lance fired several tranquilizers at Ted, and Pidge soon reemerged with a makeshift lasso. “Keith!”

“Is this _really_ the time to mock me for being Texan?!” Keith demanded. “Besides, I don’t have a horse!”  
“If we’re going to die, we should die with me knowing what the quiznak a Texan is!” Lance yelled. Keith blocked a blow from Ted’s claws with his sword, but the force of it still knocked him into the door. His bayard skidded away across the floor.

“Keith!” Lance and Pidge screamed in unison. Keith sat up, and scowled. “Pidge, hand me the lasso.”  
“I know you’re Southern, but--”  
“PIDGE! LASSO!” Keith hissed.

Pidge gave him the lasso as Ted reared up for another blow. Keith began to circle the lasso, then suddenly threw it around Ted’s neck. “Pull with me!”  
Pidge and Lance joined him, and the three of them brought Ted to the ground.  
Ted then stood, and reared his head, tossing the three of them onto his back.  
“KEITH, I DON’T THINK THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN.” Pidge screamed.

“I wasn’t supposed to use this knowledge on _alien bears_!” Keith yelled back.  
“Hold on!” Lance ordered as Ted began to buck and try to get them off.  
Power flashed back to the common room, and Hunk opened the door to investigate what was happening with the team. “ _Ted_! Naughty, naughty Ted!”

His team gave similar wails of “Hunk!”  
Ted looked slightly ashamed. Hunk walked closer. “What are you doing up, Teddy Bear? Today is a sleepy day.”  
Ted roared, and sat down on the ground, dropping the other three paladins.

Lance groaned as he sat up. “Hunk, Ted is a klanmuirl, not a yelmor.”  
Hunk scratched under Ted’s chin. “Oh. Sorry, then.”  
“ _Hunk_ , their hides are basically impenetrable, and their bites have venom in them!” Lance threw his hands in the air.

“Ted was just scared. Weren’t you, Ted? Yes you were, yes you were.” Hunk baby-talked the bear.  
The other three paladins and the former alien prisoners made eye contact. All agreed that this was _weird_ , but no one was going to challenge the paladin that currently had an enormous venomous bear acting like a giant dog.

“Where… where did you get… Ted?” Pidge asked.  
Hunk scratched behind Ted’s ear, and Ted leaned into him. “I found him in my room the day we moved into the official rooms.”  
Lance folded his hands in front of his mouth in thought. “The former trainee Yellow Paladin, Breght, had a klanmuirl baby she picked up on Altea once in her room. When Keith got rid of the stasis fields, Ted must have snuck out.”  
“Wasn’t literally everything on fire?” Pidge demanded.

Lance waved her concerns away. “It was just like home. Also Ted must have snuck into Hunk’s current room while everyone was distracted. Nice Ted--”  
He reached for Ted to pet him, and Ted let out a low growl.  
“Okay, no pats for you.” Lance huffed, quickly withdrawing his hand.

“What’s up with the power?” Hunk asked.  
“Long story short, the crystal we took from the Galra is corrupted and messing with the castle systems.” Keith sighed. “Power is randomly going on and off everywhere. Navigation systems are totally off-line. Pidge, can you work on redirecting power so we can get the crystal in the elevator?”  
Pidge gave him a thumbs-up. “By the way, where’s Coran?”  
“I thought he was with you guys.” Hunk said.

“Last time I saw him, he was in the dungeon.” Pidge noted. “I should _probably_ go check on him when I’m done with the elevator.”  
“Probably, before Sendak murders him.” Hunk said. “Ted is going to hang out with me and the former prisoners, right guys?”  
The aliens all nodded, scared to mess with the Klanmuirl-tamer. Hunk picked up the end of Pidge’s lasso and led Ted into the common room.

“Don’t… tell Shiro that Hunk has a giant bear for a pet.” Keith said slowly.  
“Same for Allura.” Lance agreed.  
Pidge pushed up her glasses. “Oh, good. We all want them to nearly shit themselves like we did. Anyway, _y’all_ come back now, _y’hear_?” With that, she walked away, cackling.

“Say that to my face, Yankee!” Keith yelled after her.  
Pidge just started laughing harder.  
Lance put a hand on Keith’s shoulder. “Focus. I don’t know how the Texas is messing with my translator, but I’ll fix it later. Come on, before we fly into a star.”   
They made their way to the outside of Lance’s room, as the power flickered out. Keith cracked his knuckles. “This may take a minute.”  
“Go ahead.” Lance replied.

In the cockpit, Shiro put another card down. “Um… this is a personal question, but can only boys have bastards in Altean culture, or…? How exactly does it work?”  
Allura calmly placed her own card on top of his. “Any royal can have a bastard child. I could have one right now if I so chose. However, the bastards are generally left with the other parent, so it would be… awkward, considering the only man with me right now is you.”

Shiro cottoned on to her meaning, and flushed. “I-I… on Earth, it’s just easier for noblemen to have bastards than noblewomen? I mean no one really cares about that anymore, and this was in like the 1400s, but… yeah.”  
“Yeah?” Allura asked.

“Well, because fidelity was such a big thing, if a woman was pregnant, she’d say it was her husband’s. If she wasn’t married back then, it would ruin her reputation.”  
Allura leaned back pensively. “ _Really_? But if a man was unmarried, it wouldn’t ruin him?”  
“Earth culture is weird.” Shiro shrugged.

Allura nodded. “I should say so. Your go.”  
Shiro drew a random card from his hand and placed it on top.  
Allura easily topped it. “Why are you asking about bastards anyway?”

“Uh… curiosity, mostly.” Shiro shrugged.  
Allura raised an eyebrow. “You want to know if I had any other siblings besides Allances?”  
“Actually, sure. That’d be great.” Shiro smiled.  
Allura grimaced. “And do you have any other siblings besides Keith?”

“No, actually. It was really hard for my parents to have me, and even if they wanted more, they couldn’t have them.” Shiro sighed. “They adopted Keith when I was seven, and Keith was about a year old. They don’t like to talk about it, but I think they both kind of blamed themselves.”  
Allura nodded slowly. “That’s… quite personal. When my father was young, he had a dalliance with a young woman named Thyre. And they had a daughter together; Farla. Thyre bonded with my father, but it was unrequited. Several years later, I was born.”

“Oh, wow.” Shiro blinked owlishly. “Um… if I may ask, what happened to Farla?”  
Allura grimaced again. “Well, she might have actually survived when Altea didn’t. Voltron was created because the Drule were taking over the universe, much like the Galra are now. A small group of planets-- Altea, Galaris, and others-- banded together to fight back. When the war was over, and peace talks began, the Drule wanted the princess of Altea to marry their prince, to make sure that Voltron would never be used against them.”

Shiro’s eyes widened. “You…?”  
Allura shook her head. “I’m not done. The alliance nearly fell apart over this. I was too young for marriage-- I was only 15 decafeebs. Galaris and Altea refused to hand me over to the Drule. Other planets tried to force them, saying I was one of many. Then Farla walked in, and said that they had never seen the princess, and she was a daughter of Alfor. Farla was… Farla was treated better than many other bastards in history. She still had the -la suffix denoting her status as the illegitimate daughter of royalty, but she was as much my sibling as Allances. It’s not like the Drule knew our naming customs… but in any case, she married the Drule prince, and if Drule still stands, she became their queen.”

Shiro blinked in surprise. “Wow. I was… not expecting that. Were you close?”  
Allura smiled bitterly. “A lot closer than I ever was with Allances. And then I was separated from him when he became a paladin, and I trained to become queen. I… in a way, I lost both of my siblings when the war ended.”  
Shiro nodded slowly. “Well, now you have Lance back. And...” He laid his final card on the pile between them. Allura gasped. “You dirty, rotten… getting me to open up about my sister while you win is cheating!”

Shiro laughed. “Wanna play again? I promise, it wasn’t because of your sister. I’m just a great cardsharp.”  
Allura nodded. “I refuse to believe you won on your first time. You should tell me something personal as we play to make it fair.”  
“Okay. Like what?” Shiro asked, shuffling the cards and dealing them out.  
“...you’ve had experience flying, I can tell from how you handle the Black Lion. How? What did you do on Earth?” Allura asked, picking up her cards.

Shiro grinned. “My mom is in the Air Force. She’s an officer, and as long as I can remember, she took Keith and I up in her plane. Probably longer, too. I was practically born on a commercial flight from America to Japan-- she was going back to visit her parents. Flying is as natural to me as anything else, so when I was old enough, I applied to the Garrison Flight School. I was one of their best pilots, and I was selected to take part in a trip to Kerberos, a moon in our solar system that we knew had ice and water, I jumped at it. I was meant to spend about eighteen months in space, it didn’t work out that way though.” He laughed awkwardly, but Allura laid a hand on his human arm. “I’m sorry. And I promise you, the Galra will suffer for what they did to you.”

Shiro took her hand. “Thank you, Allura.”  
They both leaned in, but were unfortunately interrupted by Lance and Keith busting through the ceiling.  
“Oh, you’re here.” Lance said, looking up at the vent. “Wish we’d known that before we came all the way out here.”  
“What _are_ you doing here?” Allura demanded.  
“We’re here to unplug the corrupted crystal before it damages the castle further. As soon as Pidge sends the back up crystal up, we’ll roll it over and switch it out.” Keith huffed, narrowing his eyes at Allura. “I could really ask you the same question. Aren’t you supposed to be asleep or something?”

The elevator dinged, and Lance and Keith opened it to find the other crystal there.  
“I don’t understand. Did I miss the part where you recovered this?” Shiro asked.  
Lance shrugged. “Nah. It was just in Hunk’s room, and it was easy to get it after we asked him where he put it. With him and Pidge, it was much easier than we originally thought.”  
“Especially since Ted is out of the way.” Keith pointed out.

“Wait, _what_?” Shiro demanded. “What is Ted?”  
Keith shrugged. “It's an Altean thing, but it doesn't really matter, so… are you going to help us roll this thing over or not?”  
Shiro got up from the cards, and indeed helped them, though he didn’t really need to.  
Lance boosted Keith up onto his shoulders to unhook the corrupted crystal. The ship instantly and completely died.

“Routine maintenance sucks.” Keith huffed. The three paladins grasped the corrupted crystal firmly, then pulled it out completely. They then replaced it with the non-corrupted crystal. Allura made her way over to the panel, resetting the systems. Across the castle, systems blinked on and off, and then stabilized, one by one. Last to come back online was the navigation system. The other consoles stopped sparking momentarily, and the screen clicked back on.

Everyone began screaming as they began to be drawn into a star.  
“Allura can’t you open a wormhole?!” Keith demanded.  
“Not like this!” She hissed as Lance sprinted past her to her usual console. “Allura, set a course literally anywhere else!”  
“Lance what are you going to do?” She asked, though she carried out his orders.

Lance took a deep breath, and opened a wormhole between them and the sun. The ship was slowly drawn in, and it closed neatly behind them. Pidge, Coran, and Hunk began to contact the others from around the castle. Those in the castle stared at the sight before them, then Lance grinned. “Swap moon time!”


	10. We meet Keith's mom

Zarkon, Haggar, and Lotor stared at the video in front of them. Then it ended, and the mysterious circle of destiny began again.  
“Press the cancel button!” Haggar ordered.  
The sentry ultimately failed, and a video about the Green Paladin entitled ‘Infiltrating the Garrison’ began to play.

“Hey Mom, I’m here in the Garrison--”  
“Exit out!” Lotor hissed. “Close the window!”  
The sentry panicked and made the video fill the entire screen.  
“--making progress. I mean, it’s slow, but I closing in on them.”

Zarkon stomped forward and forcibly closed the ‘internet’ window that the video was running in, before returning to his former position with Haggar and Lotor. “This was a foolish waste of time. Why would we need to watch the Paladins and deserters?”  
“It gives us an insight into their minds.” Lotor shrugged. “Besides, it’s nice to check up on Allances and see what he’s up to.”  
Zarkon crossed his arms. “Weak, the lot of them. And a waste of our time and resources.”

Haggar rolled her eyes. “So leave then. Lotor and I will handle this.”  
Zarkon sat down stubbornly. “Who would have known that _you_ of all people have grandmotherly feelings?”  
“The same people who know that if you continue on this path, you’ll lose _all_ feelings in a certain area.” Haggar huffed.

“I have no sexual feelings, so your threat is useless.” Zarkon rolled his eyes.  
Lotor made a face. “I don’t want to listen to this. Can we all just agree to watch the videos?”  
“No. I don’t care about the Blue Paladin.” Zarkon growled. “I don’t care about Sendak.”  
“You sound like a petulant child.” Haggar snorted. “Do you wish for your toy, milord?”

“Again, I do not want to listen to this.” Lotor sighed.  
His parents ignored him. Zarkon leaned back in his chair. “Do you really think these _children_ will solve anything?”  
“Do _you_ really think that the Black Lion will?” Haggar sat next to him. “I have been your wife for ten thousand years, Zarkon. I know what I’m doing.”

Zarkon leaned back in his chair. “Speaking of the Black Lion, I can feel her moving. She calls to me.”  
“Where is she?” Lotor asked.  
Zarkon closed his eyes. “I… I don’t know. All I can see through her eyes is the hangar.”  
Haggar cracked her knuckles. “Then let us use the ultimate quintessence to help you find her. Come, milord. I will summon the druids.”

“See that you do.” Zarkon sneered, following her out of the room.  
Lotor waited until they were gone, then immediately sat down in Zarkon’s chair. “Send that video to the rest of the fleet, and keep it up. I want every soldier to be well-versed in the appearance and habits of every Paladin. I want them to be able to pinpoint every quirk.”

“What about Commander Sendak and the soldier in their custody?” A sentry asked.  
Lotor shrugged. “Eh. Don’t give away that we know anything about the paladins’ videos-- they’ll stop making them. If Commander Sendak turns up on Galaris, treat him like a soldier with… dishonorable discharge, I believe? Send the order out through the fleet. I believe Commander Sendak has earned respite from the army, wouldn’t you say?”

“Of course sir!” The sentry turned and relayed the orders.  
Haggar stuck her head back in. “Lotor! Get out of your father’s chair!”  
Lotor froze, before scrambling back to his own chair. “Vrepit Sa Mother.”  
Haggar rolled her eyes. “Just listen to me, Lotor.” She disappeared again, likely to summon her druids to prepare the emperor for another round.

Lotor replied mockingly. “Just listen to me Lotor. _”_ Then he sobered. “Send out those transmissions. My parents are being useless as usual, and not focused on the larger picture. _Gods_ I can’t wait until we get Allances back and I can transfer power over.”  
“What makes you think your nephew will return, sir?” The sentry asked.  
Lotor tapped his fingers on his leg restlessly. “Family has always been important to Lance. Us in particular. What the hell could a gaggle of backwater yokels give him that we couldn’t?”

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

“Swap moon!” Lance called again gleefully on board the ship, Coran and the other paladins clustered aronud.  
Allura grabbed his arm. “Hold on. We’re not going all the way down just yet. We need to take several precautions-- if we’re spotted, who knows what will happen?”  
“What is a swap moon?” Pidge asked.  
“A swap moon is a base for the Unilu, a race of pirate aliens!” Coran said excitedly. “I’m… not allowed to trade with them anymore unsupervised, but the tales I could tell when I was”

“He almost lost the entire castle, his underwear, and me as a baby.” Lance whispered to Keith. “Mother had to step in and trade us all back.”  
“Before we do anything, we should get rid of the prisoners.” Hunk said. “Or… former prisoners. The ones held by the Galra, not Kurok and Sendak.”

“Kurok can be moved to my room if need be!” Coran said brightly.  
Shiro did a double take. “What…? Why did no one tell me about this…?”  
Hunk made a face. “I don’t want to know about you doing the horizontal tango with anyone, especially the Galra.”  
“What’s a horizontal tango?” Lance asked.

“Sex.” Pidge replied.  
Keith made his usual noise of disbelief. “Don’t talk about that with my… my...”  
“Significant other?” Shiro suggested.  
“Boyfriend?” Hunk added.

“Amjejat?” Allura smiled sweetly.  
Lance covered Keith’s ears. “ _Allura_. Don’t say such things if you don’t mean them!”  
“Alteans don’t have the same societal values about sex as we do.” Shiro whispered to Pidge. “It’s quite fascinating to see how different cultures work, really.”  
“Does that mean you and Allura had sex while you were in her room for like, ten hours?” Pidge asked.

Hunk covered his own ears. “I don’t want to hear about my commanding officer’s sex life, just like I didn’t want to hear about it when it was Iverson.”  
Shiro was bright red again, and buried his face in his hands. “ _Not_ what I meant, Katie.”  
Allura cleared her throat. “Paladins, _focus_. We need to attain parts for the ship’s repair, new pods for future refugees--”  
“We need actual food supplies instead of goo.” Hunk noted. “I’m sorry, but I cannot work like this.”

Coran blinked. “The goo is impeding your ability as a paladin of Voltron?”  
Hunk sighed. “Dang it, Coran! I’m more than a paladin of Voltron-- I’m a person. I’m barely an _adult_. I have hobbies, and I have things that tie me to home. Cooking is one of those things, but it is also something I’m good at-- it’s _my_ art, like Keith with fighting or Pidge with tech, or Allura with divulging random information. And when all I have is goo, I stagnate in that art.”

“That was beautiful.” Lance said.  
Hunk shrugged. “It’s the truth, man. So, do you guys want to just… send the former prisoners down in a pod and let them catch a ride home on their own, or…?”  
“There would be transport on and off, and it’s neutral ground… let’s time it so that they don’t notice several similar looking pods leaving and landing and trace them back to the ship.” Allura said.

“Alright. So who’s going with the prisoners and who’s going to get the materials?” Shiro asked.  
Lance raised his hand. “I’m going for the second one!” Then he grabbed Keith’s arm with his free hand, and raised it high. “Same for Keith!”

“I’m going with Lance and Keith!” Pidge said loudly. “I wanna go see the pirates!”  
Hunk looked at Shiro. “Are you gonna babysit them, or should I?”  
Shiro smiled wanly. “You should go, Hunk. I need to interrogate Sendak anyway. I’ll drop the aliens off though.”  
“Coming, Allura?” Lance asked.

“Absolutely not! The queen is still drained from the Balmera!” Coran interjected. “It’s bad enough we’re risking Allances, but I doubt Allura even has enough quintessence left to hold another form!”  
“I am holding another form right now.” Allura said icily.  
“Try to leave it then.” Lance crossed his arms. “Disguise yourself as a human.”

“Fine.” Allura snapped. She began to shift the same way Lance did, though now her hair darkened and her ears rounded. Her marks disappeared under her skin, only to be forced back out. Her nearly completely black hair suddenly blazed white. With a groan, she collapsed, and her form snapped back to her original form, much like Lance.

“Allura!” Several people cried out.  
Shiro was the first to get to her, holding her up in an effortless princess carry. Allura groaned, fighting unconsciousness. Two impossibly soft ears poked out of her hair, a gradient from her skin to Galra purple. The roots of her hair also turned the same unmistakable purple, and when she opened her eyes, there was definitely a tinge of gold that had not been there before. Unlike Lance though, she did not have Galra teeth or the mottled skin near her hairline. Shiro, of course, blushed again.

“I am offended for a number of reasons. Like one, this is turning out like a weird animated movie. Why is the girl prettier than all the boys?” Pidge asked.  
“You shut your mouth, Lance is the prettiest.” Keith hissed.  
Pidge held up two fingers. “Okay, two, I don’t know what happened when you two were kids, but I am surrounded by furries. I mean, I kind of knew we were going to war with the furries, which I’m cool with. Didn’t know there were secret furries among us.”

Hunk covered his mouth. “Pidge _no_.”  
“Pidge yes.” Pidge gave him finger-guns. “I’m going to go get Rover ready for the trip--”  
“No no no no no no.” Allura had been slowly repeating under her breath, growing louder and louder until she caught their attention.  
“Was it because I called Shiro and Keith furries? Because you and Lance are _both_ very pretty.” Pidge said.  


Allura tried to move away from Shiro, and nearly tumbled to the ground. He held her tight, but gently. “Careful, Allura.”  
“I _was_ being careful.” She said, almost on the verge of tears. “You weren’t supposed to _see_ me like this. Any of you.”  
Lance shifted back to his true form. “Allura, Pidge and Keith already saw _me_ \--”  
“I went ten thousand and six years without transforming back into a _halfbreed_.” Allura interrupted. “And _now_ , in front of _everyone_...”

“We don’t think any less of you for what you look like.” Shiro said quickly. “You’re-you’re gorgeous.”  
“I’m honestly just trying to figure out the shapeshifting thing? Like, why does no one ever tell me anything? Can you shapeshift?” Hunk asked Coran.  
“Yep!” He answered quickly.

Allura shook her head. “It’s not a matter of _beauty_. It’s a matter of looking as Altean as possible so that no one can ever call me that dirty word again to my _face_ and--”  
“Allura!” Lance called. “ _Stop it_. You already called yourself that word.”  
“You never cared as much.” Allura snapped. “You didn’t consider yourself _Altean_. You probably still consider yourself more _Galra_ than Altean!”

“Okay, that’s uncalled for.” Coran said. “Shiro, can you please help the Queen back to her bed before she and the prince start--”  
“No! I want her to say what she meant!” Lance snapped. “Do you think I will _betray_ us, Allura? Do you think I’d willingly join those who killed _both_ of our parents? Because I will tell you here and now-- my loyalty is to _Voltron_ , and it always will be.”

Allura squirmed. “Let me down, I can walk-- Lance, have you forgotten who the first Black Paladin was?”  
Shiro finally acquiesced, and Allura nearly collapsed, shrieking, “Quiznak!” She caught herself on a rail though, and pulled herself up to glare at her brother.  
Lance raised an eyebrow. “No. I haven’t. I also understand that he is not _currently_ the Black Paladin. Furthermore, I also understand that this is more about the fact that you _hate_ who and what we are. I’m sick of it, Allura. I’m not putting up with you trying to hide us anymore.”

“You agreed just as much as I did!” Allura hissed. “You _liked_ being spat at in the streets as royal processions passed?”  
“I liked feeling close to Mother.” Lance growled. “I liked being _myself_. And that’s why Mother’s side of the family liked me better, because I acknowledged that they existed when others wouldn’t acknowledge _me_. But here’s the thing, Allura. You tried to bury your magic, you tried to be like Father, but when it comes down to it...” Lance leaned in close. “You’re still just. Like. Grandmother.”

Allura wavered slightly, but did not collapse again. “And you’re still an irresponsible child, just like our uncle.”  
Lance crossed his arms. “I’m not going to pretend you’re not as venomous as a klanmuirl right now, but you should realize that you can hardly intimidate me or really make an impact on me while you’re wobbling like a newborn yelmor.”

“I can stand.” Allura hissed. “I can _walk_. And as soon as I’m recovered enough I will shift back.”  
“You still can’t go down to the swap moon.” Coran said, patting her on the shoulder. “I’ll bring you back a souvenir, and look! Shiro can watch you! And now we can all calm down, _right_?”  
Lance backed off, remembering full well that Coran could and would pinch his ear if he pursued this course of action.  
Hunk looked back over. “Okay… so… you guys done? Can we get ready to go?”

Shiro leaned in. “Allura, do you need help?”  
“She _needs_ to cool her jets.” Keith muttered.  
Shiro shot his brother a look. “He who lives in glass houses, Keith.”  
“Listen, the sun doesn’t shine out of her ass just because she’s your--”

“Enough!” Lance interjected. “This is our fight, not yours. I’m loyal to Voltron, and the fault really lies with Allura’s insecurities.” He grabbed Keith’s hand and pulled him out of the room.  
Coran sighed, giving Allura a look. She tried to stand on her own, and Shiro caught her, gently pulling her arm around his neck. “Come on, I’ll support you if you want.”

Allura sighed, and let him support most of her weight. “I’m… sorry that you had to see that. To see me like this.”  
“I meant what I said. You’re gorgeous, either way.” Shiro smiled at her. “I just wish you wouldn’t be so hard on Lance, he really is trying.”  
“Trying as in annoying.” Allura sighed. “He… I’ve always had… I never understood how he could be comfortable like this when everyone _hated_ us. But I was always raised in the eye of the public, and he… he was always meant to be up here, hidden away from Altea. I… I think I’ve been jealous of Lance for that.”

“You wanted to be a paladin?” Shiro asked.  
Allura grimaced. “Somewhat. I also thought I was born for it. When I was born, we were still at war with the Drule-- I told you about how my sister ended the war. After that, the lions were free to choose anyone from all over the universe for their next paladins. But during the war, Lance and I were always suspected to be replacements for Father and Grandfather. Farla could have led Altea.”

“What lion were you meant to have?” Shiro asked.  
“Red.” Allura said softly. “The Blue Lion touched down on Altea first, and we all thought something was wrong, that she’d somehow been unable to take off. Neither of us ever considered Lance could be her paladin. Black came down next, and chose Tavrotine D’Elaas--”

“The asshole that made Lance scared of Black Paladins?” Shiro guessed.  
Allura tried her best to shrug, nearly falling in the process. “ _Quiznak_. Part of my problem with Lance is that I feel like I don’t know my brother anymore. He’s… comfortable with all of you seeing what _freaks_ we are--”  
“You and Lance are not freaks.” Shiro interrupted. “We’re part of a team. We will never judge you for your blood.”  
Allura looked at him for a minute, then sighed. “Obviously this does not extend to Keith. Keith isn’t a freak.”

“That’s good, but neither is Lance.” Shiro said firmly.  
Allura stared at him for a second. “You… you really believe that we’re not halfbreed freaks? You’re not just saying that to manipulate me?”  
“Allura, I don’t know what your grandfather and this Tavrotine guy did, but we don’t judge people for how they look.” Shiro said. “We don’t judge them for their blood. We judge them for who they are. And frankly, right now, when you start arguments with your brother like this, you’re not the leader I know you are.”

Allura looked away. “I’m not a child.”  
“I’m not saying you are.” Shiro sighed.  
Allura sighed as well. “You’re wise beyond your years, Black Paladin. Thank you. For everything. I will apologize to my brother after he returns from the swap moon. In the meantime, you should probably get the prisoners together.”  
Shiro nodded. “Alright… Allura, this will go faster if I fully carry you like I was before.” Allura reluctantly acquiesced.

Meanwhile, Pidge snuck into the dungeon. “Hey Kurok!” She grinned. “We’re gonna bust you out.”  
“That implies that the Altean Queen did not give permission for this.” Kurok pointed out. “I don’t think I like where this is going...”  
“Well, she’s in a bad mood right now.” Pidge shrugged. “Besides, 1) it’s easier to ask forgiveness than permission, and 2) she never said _not_ to release you.”

Sendak rolled his good eye. “Truly, you must be a master of manipulating people, Green Paladin. Tell me, how many desserts did you convince your mother to give you?”  
“ _You_ can stay here.” Pidge huffed.  
Sendak’s face lit up. “ _Truly_?”  
“Um… yeah, dude?” Pidge shrugged. “I don’t want you in my room?”  
“Wait, _what_?” Kurok asked as Pidge pulled him up the stairs and to her room.

“Green Paladin, I am _flattered_ , but I am not interested in children.” Kurok said outside her room.  
“Shh!” Pidge hissed. “Hunk knows everything, and Shiro’s a quiznaking snitch.”  
Checking that the coast was clear, she opened the door. “Alright Kurok, make yourself at home.”  
“Again, _very_ flattered, but also _very_ uninterested.” Kurok said.

Pidge made a face. “Ew, no. Sendak’s probably going to be sent back to the Galra. Do you want to stay with us?”  
“Um, it’s complicated...” Kurok shifted his weight awkwardly.  
“Better question. Do you want to stay with Coran?” Pidge adjusted her glasses and smirked. Kurok’s ears stood straight up. “Um… I… yes. I do.”

“Then hang out here until I can sneak you somewhere better.” Pidge said. “It’s the perfect time to sneak you out-- Shiro is escorting Allura to her room, Keith and Lance are off somewhere making out, Hunk’s off corralling the former prisoners and Coran is… I don’t actually know, but he never comes in here.”  
Hunk was indeed off taking care of the former prisoners, and readying them for travel to the swap moon.  Each prisoner had been given new clothes, gold to barter passage with, and a few days worth of supplies.

“Okay, is everyone ready?” Hunk asked.  
The aliens all gave their affirmation.  
Hunk nodded back. “Okay, everyone line up, oldest first.”  
Shiro entered, “Is everyone-- wow, Hunk, you really did a lot with these guys. I’m impressed. Good job, buddy.”

Hunk waved him off. “It was nothing. You and Allura have been… snuggling, Keith and Lance have been more obvious about it, Coran was also making out with one of the Galra, and I don’t know where Pidge was. Maybe she found the perfect robot. Point is, I was the only one able to step up, so I did.”  
“Still, thank you for doing this, Hunk.” Shiro laid a hand on his shoulder. “I’m proud of you.”

“Thank you, Dad.”  
Hunk and Shiro both stared at each other for a minute, before Hunk quickly said, “I mean, thank you, sir!”  
Shiro patted Hunk’s shoulder. “It’s alright. I once called a teacher ‘Mom’. I’m honored to be a father figure to you.”  
Hunk smiled. “Thank you, Space Dad.”

“I’m going to assume that one was intentional.” Shiro said, before looking around. “Please don’t tell Katie, she’ll never let me live it down.”  
“I’m going to assume that you mean Pidge, and sure.” Hunk shrugged. “Keith is fair game though.”  
Shiro’s eyes widened, and Hunk ran around the corner.  
“No no no no no! Come back!” Shiro yelled, before sighing in defeat and looking at the prisoners. “Let’s just go.”

Thirty Earth minutes later, Shiro sighed in frustration as another pod took the last parking space. “God _dammit_ … okay Takashi, keep it together, remember what Dad said when he taught you how to drive…”  
However, the wise words of Akira Shirogane were drowned out by the fact that Sakura had been in the backseat for most of the driving lessons, and in moments like this, she had specifically said, “Takashi! You must not let the other drivers treat you this way! If you are not an air host, then why are you serving up your time and energy to useless morons who breath through their mouths and chug alcohol like the world is going to end! I thought you wanted to be a _pilot_! Even commercial pilots know they cannot simply let their spaces be taken! Planes would crash everywhere!”

Honestly, sticking his head out and yelling choice insults to random aliens stealing his parking spot was looking more and more appealing by the moment. Shiro tried to keep his cool though. He took a deep breath, and circled around again. “Let’s… listen to some calming music. There must be jazz in space, right?”  
He pressed the button for the radio, and instantly heavy metal came over the radio. Shiro turned the dial. An alien screamed something about selling knives at him. He turned the knob again. There was a barbershop quartet of Galra, and they sounded like cats in heat. Another turn filled the pod with the screech of knives down a plate, followed by nails down a chalkboard.

“Bermilian’s ‘Rhapsody in Ghulut’! I love this song!” One alien said from the backseat. Xe began to sing along.  
“Patience yields focus, patience yields focus, patience yields focus…” Shiro muttered under his breath. He turned the dial again, only to be met with static. Shiro finally sighed, banging his head on the wheel, and letting out a loud blare. “I give up. Can y’all just get out and walk to the meetup yourselves?”

“What is a ‘y’all’?” The alien from before asked.  
“All of you.” Shiro said through ground teeth. The loud blare had yet to cease. People were beginning to stare. The aliens filed out, clutching their lunchboxes, and Shiro finally left for the castle. After a moment’s thought, he switched the dial one more time, and sang along to the alien pop song, making up words that he thought fit the rhythm.

On Earth, Colleen Holt had somehow roped Sakura into getting her access to a top secret military complex in the middle of the desert. Akira, of course, had accompanied them.  
“What are we doing here?” Sakura muttered to Colleen.  
“Helping the kids.” Colleen muttered back. Then she smiled brightly at the receptionist. “Hello. We want to talk to Subject 5-83A.”  
The receptionist looked between all of them. “Um… I don’t think I know what you mean.”

Colleen’s smile grew wider. “Oh, I think you _do_.”  
She slid Sakura’s security clearance across the receptionist’s desk.  
“I’m sorry ma’am, but we’re not an Air Force base.” The receptionist slid it back.

Colleen leaned in close. “Listen. Clearly I know exactly what Subject 5-83A is. Right now, I can point you to a video of the same species. So, unless you want me to tell everyone, you’re going to accept the security clearance.”  
The receptionist pursed her lips. “Ma’am, that’s impossible. Subject 5-83A doesn’t exist. We’re an insurance company.”

Akira snorted. “That’s a load of bull. I know this desert fairly well—I have a shack near here that my teenage son apparently lived in. What kind of insurance company is out in the middle of Butt-Frick Nowhere?”  
The receptionist shot him a cold glare. “The rent is easier.”  
Sakura leaned in close. “Call the Garrison, they’ll let us in.”  
Akira joined her. “You know… if I were you, I’d start distancing yourselves more. There’s going to be a massive dig in this desert in a few months.”

“All archaeological digs in the area have been concluded.” The receptionist said brightly.  
“Well, I just got a grant approved for a new one.” Akira gave a sharp smile. “Listen, lady. My sons are in space fighting some purple cat people. If Colleen Holt –yes, _that_ Colleen Holt—says this is going to help them, then guess what? We’re getting in there.”

The receptionist paled. “I need to make some calls.”  
They retreated to a waiting area. Colleen nearly bounced with excitement. Sakura leaned in and grasped Akira’s hand tightly. “I’m proud of you.”  
Akira pressed her hand to his lips. “Oh, it’s nothing. I just remembered how Keith got when Takashi tried bringing that knife of his to us.”

Sakura laughed, which mostly consisted of snorts. “Oh, God, that was _spot on_.”  
Akira grinned back. “There’s my girl. I missed you. Anyway, Colleen, what exactly are we looking at here?”  
“Oh, trust me. You’ll know it when you see it.” Colleen grinned.  
The receptionist waved them into another room.

After a few minutes, a woman walked in, her hands in manacles, and two scientists on either side. Akira and Sakura’s eyes widened, and Colleen smiled again. The scientists disappeared through the door they came through.  
The Galra woman’s eyes flickered from Sakura to Akira, to Colleen. “You three are new.”

“We just found out about you.” Colleen’s smile faded as she noted that there were a good deal of notches in the Galra’s ears, that her fur was matted in some places and shaved in others, and that she was covered in cuts and scars. “Are you alright?”  
The Galra scoffed. “Why do you ask? The obvious abuse from your primitive scientists, or the age old battle scars?” Then she looked solely at Sakura and Akira. She narrowed her eyes. “Why are you here?”

“Voltron has reformed, and is currently battling Zarkon.” Colleen said, snapping the Galra’s attention back to her. “Our children are some of its paladins.”  
The Galra made a choking sound, and Colleen realized she was laughing rather hoarsely. “Oh my… you all really believe in _Voltron_? It doesn’t exist, and furthermore, _fighting Emperor Zarkon?_ I sincerely hope you don’t mean actual battles with actual troops.”

“According to Katherine, only five troops at the moment, in the five lions.” Sakura said. “And it is real. Our son Takashi was previously a gladiator for the Galra, now he flies the Black Lion. Our other son Keith flies the Red Lion.”  
The Galra’s ears pricked up at the name ‘Keith’. “You’re… not lying, are you? Voltron is back?”  
“Of course. Why would we lie about that?” Colleen asked.

The Galra ground her teeth, and Colleen noticed that they looked unnaturally filed down. “The white coats lie, and the military lies. The woman is clearly military, and the man could easily pass for a white coat. You… I don’t know what you are.”  
“I’m Colleen.” She extended a hand. “What’s your name?”  
The Galra looked at it for a minute before shaking it gently. “My name is Kara.”

Colleen smiled. “It’s a pleasure to meet you Kara.”  
“Likewise.” Kara remarked drily, before sobering. “May I… have a writing implement and something to draw on? I have a symbol I believe that you may recognize.”  
“Of course.” Colleen reached into her purse, and pulled out a pen and paper. Kara drew on it for a minute before turning it around.

Sakura paled upon seeing it. “That's on Keith's knife... How do you know that symbol?”  
Kara glared. “So you do know it. Alright, I’ll give you one chance, military and white coat. Where. Is. My. Kit?”  
Kara stood, towering over them, and Sakura stood as well. “Do you mean, _our_ son?” She spat.

Kara rolled her eyes. “Common thievery does not make him _yours_. You mentioned another one, one who had to live as a gladiator? Did you steal him too?”  
“We didn’t _steal_ Keith, we adopted him.” Akira stood as well, voice low.  
Kara looked him up and down. “Childish intimidation tactics won’t work on me, idiot.”

“Don’t talk to my husband that way!” Sakura snapped.  
Colleen stood, and gently laid an arm on Kara’s arm. Kara jolted at the sudden contact, then looked at Colleen.  
“Kara, I promise you, Sakura and Akira raised Keith like he was their own. He wanted for nothing. I know you’re upset, but think of it this way—if they had caught him with you, he’d be here too. Would you want that for him?”

Kara slowly sank back into her chair. “They’d… they’d rip him apart to see what was inside. I’ve seen them do it. I… fear for what will happen now that they know I have a kit who can pass for human.”  
“He _is_ human!” Sakura hissed.  
“He is _half_ human!” Kara growled, before closing her eyes as if in pain. “And now they know I can breed with humans.”  
A chill ran down Colleen’s spine. “Hey, hey, listen to me. I’m going to come back every moment I can. I won’t let them hurt you. I’ll do everything I can to keep you safe.”

Kara blinked owlishly. “…why?”  
“Because I want to help you, and no one should have to be treated like this.” Colleen took Kara’s hand, and smiled. Sakura and Akira exchanged a look.

Back in space, Coran had managed to replicate human clothes for Lance based on Hunk and Keith’s ideas. Lance was wearing sneakers, jeans, a blue and white shirt, and a floofy jacket that Keith wanted. As a matter of fact, he was already planning to ‘lose’ it.  
Lance spun for a second. “ _Nice_. But, if we’re going to dress up to blend in anyway, why do I need these?”

“Something underneath your disguise in case we get stopped.” Coran explained. “Now… we just need to make it seem as though you’re a believable Earthling. Let’s start with the name.”  
“Um… Lance is an Earth name.” Hunk pointed out. “I had a teacher named Mr. Lance once.”  
“And there was also Lance Armstrong.” Keith nodded. “I don't know that many others.”

Coran clapped his hands together. “Perfect!”  
“But what about surnames?” Hunk asked.  
Lance grimaced. “It would take several doboshes, if not vargas, for me to list my entire name. Altean surnames build off of those of the mother, so unless there is a scandal, it stretches back. This is especially true for Allura and I.”  
“It’s true—his surname stretches back to Ghira, wife of Al!” Coran interjected. “The royal family has always had the longest surname list on Altea!”

Both Lance and Coran sobered, and Hunk cut in. “Okay, but most humans have… like three names. We’re passing Lance off as Western, so… first name, middle name, and _one_ surname. Unless it’s hyphenated, but… yeah.”  
“Where specifically am I meant to be from on Earth?” Lance asked.  
Keith shrugged. “I don’t know. If you panic, just say Cuba.”

“Why Cuba?” Hunk asked.  
Keith shrugged again. “It was the first thing that came to mind.”  
Hunk sighed. “Right. Well, we’re going to need to give him a surname—how about McClain?”  
“Like popular country singer Charley McClain?” Keith asked.  
Hunk blinked slowly, then sighed. “You know, when Shiro and Pidge call you Southern, I didn’t expect you to play right into their hands like that.”

Keith crossed his arms. “They’re not here.”  
Lance smirked. “What makes you think we won’t tell them?”  
“Because I’m your boyfriend, and I can kick both your asses?” Keith tried.  
“Hey, don’t hurt Hunk! He’s a beautiful artist!” Lance waved his hand in Hunk’s direction.  
“Also don’t beat up your boyfriend.” Hunk agreed.

“On Altea, young couples would regularly wrestle as part of the Fi—” Coran began.  
“Nope! No no no no no, not going into that.” Lance said hurriedly. “Anyway, I’m Lance Charley McClain now, so let’s just go—”  
“You need to change your appearance to match earthlings.” Coran said.  
Lance’s hair immediately darkened drastically, though not to the same level as Keith and Hunk. His crescent marks also disappeared, and his eyes darkened to a darker shade of blue. His ears rounded, and all traces of his Galra heritage disappeared.

Keith stared.  
Lance stiffened for a second, then forced a grin. “I’m just too handsome as a human, right Keith?”  
“Yes.” Keith said bluntly.  
Hunk sighed. “I have no time for this. I’m going to go get Pidge. Coran, coming?”  
“No, sadly, I’ve got to make sure Shiro gets back in alright.” Coran patted Hunk on the shoulder, then turned on his heel and left.

Hunk did the same, making good time to Pidge’s room. He knocked on the door.  
“Just a second!” Pidge sounded flustered. She appeared in a minute, hair fluffed up and glasses askew as though she’d been lying down.  
“Are you okay?” Hunk asked.

Pidge laughed nervously. “Fine, fine, fine! How about you, are you okay? How’s Shay?”  
“Okay, this is incredibly suspicious. How did you ever sneak into the Garrison?”  
“Practice.” Pidge leaned against the door, but Hunk easily saw over her head. “Hey Kurok.”

Kurok waved. “Pidge and I have been watching the Netflix. Human culture is so fascinating!”  
Hunk gasped. “You have _Netflix_?! And you didn’t tell me?! Pidge!”  
“…you’re not mad about me sneaking Kurok out of jail, and stealing popcorn –or the Altean equivalent—from the kitchen, you’re mad about me not inviting you?” Pidge said slowly.  
Hunk nodded. “I mean, Kurok is pretty cool and all, but this defies the bro code Pidge. I’m disappointed in you.”

Pidge considered this for a minute, then let her door slide all the way open. “We’re watching TV from like, the 2010s.”  
“Nice.” Hunk said. “We’re leaving soon though.”  
“Aw.” Pidge sighed. “Kurok, chill in here and watch more TV. I’ll quiz you when I get back.”  
Kurok sent her a thumbs up. Hunk and Pidge proceeded to the pod bay where Keith and Lance were waiting and making out.

“Aw, c’mon guys. You’re in the presence of a child.” Hunk gestured to Pidge. “Why do you guys need to stick your tongues down each other’s throats all the time? Just talk for once, jeez.”  
“Don’t call me a child, and yes. Please talk, like normal human beings. Also Lance, nice new look.”  
Lance grinned. “Thanks Pidge. And my looks may fool you, but I’m not a human being.”

“And none of this is normal.” Keith pointed out.  
Pidge looked at Hunk. “I call shotgun. You can sit in the back with kissy faces McGee.”  
“Mc _Clain_.” Lance corrected. “My fake human surname is McClain.”  
“Good to know.” Pidge said.  
Hunk sighed. “Pidge, you’re going to be on your phone anyway.”

“I don’t have a phone.”  
“You’ll be on some kind of robot. Don’t stick me back there with them, I like to talk in the car and they’re just going to aggressively make out. Terrible conversation.” Hunk pointed out.  
“And you think _I_ want to watch them suck face?” Pidge demanded.  
Coran walked in, and pulled on both of their ears. It was uncomfortable, but they didn’t give the same reaction as Lance.

“Hmm, your ears are less sensitive. Should have expected that. Anyway, I was thinking that we probably need disguises! We must blend in with the Unilu, after all!” Coran announced, passing out clothing. “Lance my boy, you should sit up front with me.”  
“I wanted to sit with Keith.” Lance pointed out.  
Coran pulled on his own disguise. “Now now, there will be enough of that at the swap moon. …if you can make the Unilu believe that you, Pidge, and Keith are a family unit, they may be lured into a false sense of security.”

Lance laughed. “Last time you suggested that, Father was pickpocketed, Allura wandered off and was nearly adopted by a group of Geltu, Mother was swindled into buying various tourist kitsch, and I was left in a bathroom after my ransom fell through.”  
“Please tell us that story one day.” Pidge said as they all put on their disguises and stepped into the pod. Lance did end up sitting up front, much to his and Keith’s chagrin. After they touched down on the base, Coran gave them money, and hurried away.  
The paladins walked past fairly accurate wanted posters, including pictures of them, ignoring them. Lance looked around. “This place looks… different.”

“Space mall!” Pidge punched the air. “Yes! Let’s ditch the disguises!”  
“No one else is wearing them.” Hunk pulled his off. “So, you guys want to split up and… what exactly are we here for, again?”    
“Information, potential allies, any supplies we need, Coran’s getting a replacement pod or two to keep us up to code, and maybe something for Allura and Shiro.” Lance listed off as he, Pidge, and Keith took off their disguises.

“And Kurok.”  
“Kurok got Netflix and freedom.” Hunk huffed. “I think he’s fine.”  
“What’s Netflix?” Keith asked.  
“An ancient god of Hilarun, a planet that’s essentially on the other side of the universe. Near Earth, I think? Very nice people, even if they _do_ worship a primordial chaos god and occasionally practice sacrificial rites.” Lance replied. “10/10 would return again.”

Hunk frowned. “That’s not… okay, sure. Kurok has found religious freedom in the god Netflix, and soon will meet the Earth gods HBO, Amazon Prime, and Hulu. Point is, Kurok’s sitting pretty right now.”  
“Stop being salty.” Pidge ordered. “And besides, my mom doesn’t have Hulu. And she only watches HBO for old shows like the Leftovers and Game of Thrones. Point is—not sure if my mom kept up the subscription.”

“Subscription?” Lance asked.  
“Don’t worry about it.” Keith suggested. “We’ll go look for half the stuff, here’s half the money.”  
Pidge shot him a long look, before shaking her head. “Nah, this is Altean money. This hasn’t been acceptable legal tender for years.”    
“How are we going to get money then?” Hunk asked.

“We’ll think of something.” Pidge replied. “C’mon, team Science, let’s go get this done while Team Valentine is smooching.”  
“Valentine?” Lance frowned. “ _Lame_.”  
“We’ll come back with a better team name than yours.” Keith said.

Onboard the castle, Shiro sat down in front of Sendak with a list of questions. “Alright, let’s get through this, shall we?”  
Sendak leaned on his remaining hand. “By all means, Paladin. Let’s.”  
“What was the first rank you held as a soldier?”

Sendak rolled his remaining eye. “Dull, and inconsequential. I was drafted into the army or… navy, as it really is. Originally I was meant to be a private, but due to my acceleration through the training course, it was decided that I should be moved up to an ensign status.”  
“Where did you find the Red Lion?” Shiro continued, writing down Sendak’s answer.

“A non-descript fire planet. Its sun was on the verge of a supernova. We were assigned to the area on a routine scouting mission. It was a stroke of luck and a fairly good scan that managed to find her.”  
Shiro wrote that down as well. “You’re cooperating a lot.”  
“Yes, well, I want what I’m owed.” Sendak sat up properly. “After I… _ugh_ , collaborate with you, I want you to kill me before the Galra can.”

Shiro nearly dropped his pen. “I’m not going to kill you, Sendak.”  
Sendak narrowed his good eye. “And then what? I live the rest of my miserable life on board this ship? I become part of your happy little family? Do you know how _insulting_ that would be, Paladin? To live as a collaborator the rest of my days, to give up everything I care for in this world to be like _Kurok_ of all people? Or what—you _humanely_ release me to the Galra? To publicly die? My death would be televised, my son would be forced to watch while his mother would be carried off to potentially join me! It would be long, and painful, and they would take everything from me to make sure no one else forgot the lesson of what happens when you betray the Galra.”

“I don’t know about what we’ll do. Let’s cross that bridge when we come to it.” Shiro tapped his pen on the table, breaking eye contact with Sendak. “What are Zarkon’s weaknesses?”  
“You’ll never defeat him.” Sendak hissed, tapping his fingers on the table. “What does it matter if I tell you? He is old, he is obsessed with Voltron. He cares for nothing beyond his quintessence and the lions. He consistently annoys Haggar to the point that one day she will destroy him since he no longer resembles the husband she took over ten thousand years ago.”

“Are those really weaknesses?” Shiro asked.  
“Are you really a defender of the universe?” Sendak snapped. “Stupid paladin. He has no tactical weaknesses, he can’t after ten thousand years.”  
Shiro sighed. “Well, I suppose that Voltron is a weakness we can use. Tell me, if you were to attack Zarkon, where would you strike?”  
“He cares for _nothing_. You could kill his son in front of him, yet he would not bat an eye. He would kill you, to be sure, but really only to save face. Do you mean which ships are the easiest to attack, through which you could carve a path to the Emperor? I will not let innocent Galran soldiers _die_ for your revenge on _him_. I want to die, not destroy my people!” Sendak spat. “I don’t care if you torture me. I don’t care if I have to live with Kurok and the orange one for the rest of my life. I will not aid you here, paladin.”

“…did you just imply that Coran and Kurok are worse than torture?” Shiro asked.  
“ _Conventional_ torture.” Sendak sneered. “Anyway, do you have any more questions for me, paladin?”  
“Yes, actually.” Shiro said. “What are the Galra’s plans for Earth?”  
“Who?” Sendak asked.

“Our planet. Earth.” Shiro hissed.  
“Oh. Designation M-95-X-45-E-23-C-70… I don’t know the rest. Yes, I know of it. I don’t know any solid plans for it so far.”  
“Have the Galra gotten there?” Shiro asked.  
“Why do you ask?”

“Because over a year ago when I was abducted, it was within the solar system. The warship could have crossed to Earth in less than a day.” Shiro explained.

Sendak looked at him for a moment, before looking away and shrugging. “I haven’t heard of anything beyond observation. Haggar hasn’t even requested any replacements for the Champion, though I must ask. Are all of your species like you?”  
“No.” Shiro said simply. “You’re sure that no Galra have entered Earth’s space?”  
“That I know of.” Sendak replied. “Anything else?”

Shiro shook his head. “I’m going to talk to Allura about this. She gets final judgement on your fate.”  
Sendak sighed. “Given her ancestry, that doesn’t assuage my fears.”  
“You know who Allura’s grandfather is?” Shiro asked.

“You don’t?” Sendak leaned forward. “Allura of Altea is the daughter of Alfor and Idras. Alfor was the son of Alvaris and Melata, and only came to the throne after his three elder brothers, widely regarded to be the better fit for it, especially because Alvaris openly despised his youngest son and had pawned him off on Voltron. Her being descended from Alvaris alone raises eyebrows, but her _mother’s_ family? Paladin, Idras was the daughter of Zarkon and Haggar.”

Shiro jerked back. “You’re lying.”  
Sendak gave him an unimpressed look. “Yes, I just decided now to start lying. Don’t make me laugh, Paladin. She is the granddaughter of Haggar and Zarkon, and honestly, the Haggar part is more worrying. Zarkon is the most powerful man alive, with an armada of warships at his fingertips, but ultimately powerless without his wife. The universe fears Zarkon, yes, but most will not even speak Haggar’s name aloud.”

“I know about Haggar.” Shiro spat, his hand beginning to glow. “And Allura isn’t like her.”  
Sendak’s eyes flickered to Shiro’s hand. “Oh, I know you know about Haggar and her druids. And I also know that destiny is never linear, Paladin. There are patterns, especially with the accursed lions. It’s whispered they can see on and on into the future, and I suppose by then it always looks the same. The Black Paladin and a witch. The Blue Paladin alone. The Red Paladin making sure that it doesn’t happen to them by any means necessary. The Green Paladin forgetting everything they ever had to do with Voltron. The Yellow Paladin cowering with their family, praying duty will not call to them again to destroy their lives.” Sendak clicked his tongue. “It’s a dance the universe has carried out before.”

“You don’t know anything about what happened to the previous Paladins.” Shiro hissed.  
Sendak rolled his eyes. “I know enough. Particularly enough about the trainees, and certainly enough to corroborate with the evidence. It’s not a new theory, as far back as the lions’ creation, you have theories that they have a type, from the beginning of their paladins’ lives to the end. Dukat in particular stresses this point, but it was truly only refined by Kuzon.”  
“…who?” Shiro asked.  
Sendak sighed. “Historians, Paladin. Eminent ones, whose works I studied closely for my thesis. If you had asked better questions, you might have deeper insight into my background.”

Shiro stood. “Right. Well, I’m going to go talk over your fate with Allura.”  
“And you’re going to ask her about her ancestry?” Sendak asked. “I have a question for you, Paladin. What if she refutes it? Do you discount everything I’ve told you?  Do you believe me, or do you believe her?”  
“I would believe her.” Shiro spat.  
Sendak rolled his head around his neck to stretch a bit. “Why? I’ve never lied to you, Paladin.”  
“Didn’t you dress up Haxus as a woman to try and seduce one of our Paladins?”  
Sendak shrugged. “You chose to see him as a woman. Haxus never said he was a woman, and if he did, he was the one who lied.”

Shiro rolled his eyes. “Still untrustworthy. Nice try, Sendak.”  
Sendak shrugged. “I had to try, after all.”  
Shiro escorted him back to the cell, then went to go talk to Allura.

On the swap moon, Pidge and Hunk had found the Earth store. After seeing that the alien had an original SNES, Pidge wanted it. She wanted it _very_ badly. They had found Lance and Keith gently teasing each other by the fountain, and Hunk had grabbed them and dragged them to the nearly empty food court to plan.

“Okay, I think we should just steal it.” Keith said.  
“Keith is hereby banned from planning duty.” Pidge said.  
“Wh—you do realize we’re already outlaws, right?” Keith asked.  
“The swap moon warrior would come for us quickly though, on his speeder of justice.” Lance noted.

“What?” Hunk asked.  
“Space mall cop.” Keith translated. “He ran into us earlier and stared at Lance for like a minute and a half before leaving on his Segway.”  
“Right… well, space mall cop aside, we’re still not stealing anything, Keith.” Pidge pointed out. “It makes us look bad and Shiro will yell at us.”

“We can’t really get jobs though, we’ll never make enough money in time.” Hunk said.  
“We could try busking. Does anyone know how to play an instrument?” Pidge asked, looking around.  
“No.” Hunk admitted.  
“Mom and Dad never made me after Shiro straight up quit piano. I mean, they tried, but it just wasn’t going to work.” Keith explained.  
“There was honestly no time for me to learn.” Lance said.

“Quiznak. I kind of know how to play the harmonica, but I don’t have one on me.” Pidge sighed. “Anyone know any magic tricks or something?”  
Lance shook his head. “Only Allura inherited _that_ from Grandmother.”  
“…your sister has magic?” Hunk asked.  
Lance nodded. “That’s how she was able to replenish the Balmera. It’s not small scale tricks, though. I don’t know how it would help us make money.”

“You can shapeshift.” Pidge pointed out.  
“Uh-uh.” Keith interjected. “No, we’re not doing that. Paul Blart, Space Mall Cop, doesn’t need to cart Lance off after realizing that he’s Altean.”  
Nearby two pairs of ears pricked up, unbeknownst to the Paladins.  
“Can we hack an ATM?” Hunk asked.

“That’s also stealing.” Pidge pointed out. “Trust me, you’ve never had to deal with Shiro’s disappointed dad face. It’s _hardcore_. One time when I was like five, I did something really bad. I can’t remember what it was, but I think it involved shaving the neighbor’s dog. Anyway, my parents loaded me onto a hovertrain, and sent me down to the Shirogane household. Sixteen-year-old Shiro met me at the station, and said, ‘Katie, I am so disappointed in you’. I straight up started crying right then and there, even though my parents had grounded me, had taken away most of my toys, the whole shebang.”

“One time he caught me setting off fireworks with my dipshit friends.” Keith added. “I was an _edgy_ twelve-year-old. One look from him, and I broke down crying. There was snot everywhere. Mom and Dad tried to scold me when I got home, but neither of them could ever get the Shiro-reaction.”  
“What strange power does Shiro have over both of you?” Hunk asked.  
“You don’t get it, man.” Pidge said. “He’s like… the ultimate dad.”

“I thought Shiro didn’t have any children?” Lance asked.  
Pidge shrugged. “He doesn’t, he just sort of… becomes a dad whenever anyone younger is around him. We’re getting off-track—we can’t tell stories about Shiro being a dad to get money.”  
“Don’t be so sure, I’m entertained.” Hunk said. “And what else are we going to do?”  
“Sell our Altean money as a collector’s item to the Unilu?” Lance suggested.  
“Go diving for coins in the fountain.” Keith added.

“Form a huge barter system spanning the mall until the Earth Store guy gives us the SNES for free.” Pidge said.  
“Guys, why don’t we do all of those?” Hunk asked. “Like split up and each of us do one thing?”  
“I’m down for it.” Lance said.  
“So am I.” Keith agreed.

Pidge nodded thoughtfully. “I call Shiro-story duty.”  
“I’ll take the Altean money.” Lance said.  
“I’ll go diving in the fountain.” Keith added.  
“That leaves me to barter.” Hunk noted. “Okay, sure. Let’s go.”  
“Bet you I’ll win, Keith.” Lance grinned.  
“Bet you _I_ will.” Keith replied.  
“Guys, guys. We all know I’ll win.” Pidge grinned. They all laughed and bickered until they split.

In terms of showiness, Pidge won. She called Rover to her, then set up a small booth near the fountain. Using projections from Rover (and general storytelling) she told anyone who would listen a variety of stories.  
There was a small hiccup when Varkon, the space mall cop Keith and Lance had mentioned, stopped by. “Do you have a license for this?”  
“Of course I do.” Pidge lied. “Just like I have a license for this droid.”

“You don’t need a droid license—hang on, is that a military droid?” Varkon squinted at Rover, who beeped in agreement. “How the quiznak did you get one of those?”  
Pidge pushed up her glasses and leaned on her hand. “I’ve got a brother in engineering of these little guys. He hooked me up with a broken one, and I fixed my droid myself.”  
Varkon nodded slowly. “Nice. Anyway, I’m going to need to see your license.”

Pidge laughed nervously. “Right, right, it’s right here… incidentally, is there any way that we could… skip that part?”  
Varkon shook his head. “No. I need to see it… um, what’s your name?”  
“Gunderson.” Pidge lied.  
“Where are you from, _Gunderson_?” Varkon asked. “You don’t look like any species listed in the Galra database.”  
Pidge paled, before grabbing her cash box and running. “Rover, scatter!” She ordered. Rover beeped in acquiescence, before flying off the other way.

“Come back here!” Varkon ordered, chasing Pidge on his Segway. “Somebody stop that Gunderson!”  
Pidge ran for her life, clutching the money box to her chest. She eventually ended up hiding in some bushes while Varkon sped by. She breathed a sigh of relief, and sat back to count her money. She groaned, realizing she only had about 200 GAC when she needed six times that.

In terms of success, Hunk ostensibly won, having gained the console and controller, as well as a cow. Hunk had been sent all over the mall—the Earth Store guy wanted a rare glass flower in exchange for the console and controller, and the Unilu who sold _that_ wanted a special feather.  
The guy who had that wanted a poem, and the bookstore owner would get Hunk a free copy if he got them a free (and decent) meal from some guy named Vrepit Sal. Honestly, this was the hardest part for Hunk.

“Please can you just tell me what you want in exchange?” Hunk begged.  
“I don’t want anything.” Vrepit Sal huffed. “No, that’s untrue, I want the GAC that I am owed.”  
“What GAC?” Hunk asked.  
Vrepit Sal pointed to where the Paladins had been sitting during the planning stage. “When you and your little friends loitered.”  
He lifted Hunk up and placed him in the kitchen. Eventually Hunk ended up taking over the kitchen, and he was able to take some of his dish to the bookstore owner. After a series of switches, Hunk took the console and controller (and Kaltenecker, the cow he had been given) back to the food court.

He stopped briefly as Pidge darted in front of him screaming, and Varkon tore after her.  
“Don’t let them get to you.” Hunk said. “This kind of stuff happens a lot with Voltron.”  
Kaltenecker mooed, and Hunk patted her nose. “I can’t wait to introduce you to Ted.”

In terms of actually getting all the money needed, Keith won. After several hours, he had collected a _lot_ of money. He made his way to the Earth Store, dripping wet and clutching his jacket filled with the coins that wouldn’t fit in his pants, and learned that Hunk had already bought what was needed roughly five minutes ago. Keith then set out to meet up with the others, and ran into Pidge.

“I have two hundred, how much do you have?” She asked.  
“1200.” Keith replied.  
“ _Sweet_.” Pidge pumped the air.  
Keith shook his head. “Nah, Hunk apparently already got everything.”  
“Double sweet!” Pidge grinned. “Let’s head back to the food court.”  
“I wonder where Lance is…” Keith frowned.

In terms of doing what he said he would, Lance won. He bargained with the Unilu over what was basically an exchange of currency for him. He exited the shop with a pocket full of GAC several hours before everyone else was done.

Unfortunately, that was when Nyma sidled up to him, along with Rolo and their robot.  
“Hey handsome.” She smiled.  
Lance stepped back. He gave a smile, but it was not his flirty one. “Hello. Do you guys need anything?”  
“Nyma, step off. You’re scaring the poor guy.” Rolo extended his hand. “My name’s Rolo, and this is Nyma, and that’s Beezer.”

Beezer gave a beep of greeting.  
“My name’s Lance… McClain.” Lance said, remembering his alias in the nick of time.  
Nyma smiled. “So what brings you out here?”  
“Oh you know… getting some supplies.” Lance shrugged. “Stocking up before our next voyage, getting something for my sister. She’s sick right now, so I’m hoping we can cheer her up.”  
“That’s real nice, man.” Rolo said. “You don’t seem Galra.”

“I’m… not…” Lance said.  
“Awesome. We’re kind of like… freedom fighters… we’ve stolen some stuff from Zarkon himself.” Rolo shrugged.  
Lance perked up. “Really? Freedom fighters? That’s great!”  
Nyma shrugged. “We do our best. But we’re really nothing compared to the stories surfacing of Voltron.”

Lance stepped back. “Voltron? I don’t know anything about that—what’s that, some kind of giant robot?”  
“Really? You know _nothing_?” Rolo asked. “Odd, considering you’re the pilot of the Blue Lion.”  
Lance gave a small smile. “You guys are smart. Okay, you caught me—”  
Nyma cut him off by injecting a syringe into his neck. Lance crumpled, and Rolo caught him.

“You think this will be enough to buy us a pardon?” He asked as he put Lance into a sack.  
“Better be.” Nyma huffed. “If he doesn’t get us the pardon, nothing will. C’mon, let’s go deliver him to the security Galra.”  
And so, after Varkon got back from chasing Pidge, he came back to find Nyma, Rolo, Beezer, and Lance in a sack. He confirmed that it was Zarkon’s grandson based on the genetic evidence, issued a pardon for Rolo and Nyma, and called the nearest battle cruiser.

“Did you see any of the other paladins?” Varkon asked as the ink dried on the pardon.  
Rolo and Nyma exchanged a look.  
“That’s above your paygrade.” Nyma finally said, grabbing the pardon from Varkon and walking out with Rolo and Beezer. “And you should make sure he’s properly tied up soon, I don’t know what will happen when he wakes up, and I don’t know when.”


	11. Lance gets kidnapped

Shiro proceeded to Allura’s room, and knocked gently on the door.   
“Come in.” Allura called.   
He entered. Allura was propped up on several pillows, still in her true form.

She smiled at him. “Hello, Shiro.”   
“Allura. I got the information from Sendak, though I couldn’t find Kurok. The computer said he’s in Pidge’s room so…” Shiro shrugged. “Anyway, what are we going to do with Sendak?”   
Allura sighed. “In all honesty, I don’t know. What are our options?”

“Well, we could keep him hostage here, but everyone would be miserable. We could kill him, but I don’t want to do that. He has a family, Allura. And we could release him to the Galra, but he thinks they’ll kill him publicly to send a message to other would-be traitors.”   
Allura pressed her lips together in thought, then patted the bed next to her leg. “Sit with me. What do you think we should do?”

“I think we should drop him off somewhere and let him make his own choices.” Shiro shrugged.   
Allura nodded slowly. “Yes, but he’d need to… hm. He once mentioned that Galaris has less of a military presence than ever before while Coran was in the room. If that was true, he should be somewhat fine if we drop him off after wiping his memory.”   
“You can do that?” Shiro asked.   
Allura nodded. “It’s possible, even in this state. It might even help me, as I’d be drawing out some of his quintessence in the process.”

“But?” Shiro prodded gently.   
“But I have never actually done it.” Allura admitted. “It could backfire horribly.”   
Shiro stiffened. “Then maybe we shouldn’t do it.”   
Allura’s face hardened. “Then we must kill him.”

“Allura, he has a family.” Shiro repeated.   
“We can’t keep him with us, Shiro, and we can’t release him with his knowledge of the castle and our capabilities.” Allura said firmly. “I don’t trust him.”   
Shiro sighed. “You should practice.”   
“There’s really no one to practice _on_.” Allura pointed out.

Shiro was cut off by a loud banging noise from the hangars. Allura reached for one of Coran’s pads, and pulled up an image of Blue desperately throwing herself against her door, roaring.   
Allura paled, before using the pad to call Coran. “Coran, where’s Lance?”   
“Haven’t the foggiest!” Coran replied cheerfully. “I split from the Pal—the kids a while back!”

“Coran, find Lance.” Allura ordered.   
Shiro stood. “I’ll go down there.” He didn’t wait for her reply.

On the swap moon, the other Paladins had congregated in the food court along with Kaltenecker.   
“I wonder where Lance is.” Keith frowned.   
Pidge and Hunk exchanged a look.   
Keith glared at them. “This is serious! It’s been two hours, and we haven’t heard from him! He should be back by now!”

“Okay, Keith actually has a point. We should go look for Lance.” Hunk looked over at Vrepit Sal, who was staring straight at them. “Or… you guys should go. I think I need to get back to my shift.”   
Pidge stood. “Fine, we’ll go look for Keith’s boyfriend. Probably off getting the stuff we’re supposed to or something.”   
“The SNES was _your_ idea.” Keith huffed.   
“That you went with, and thank you.” Pidge replied. “C’mon, Keith. Let’s take Kaltenecker.”   
They left the food court, and wandered down to the Unilu part of the mall. As they did this, a Galra warship arrived and sent a pod down. Shiro narrowly avoided them, hiding behind the door as the Galra entered. He frowned at them, but ultimately decided he couldn’t risk a confrontation on his own. He’d need to find the others (luckily he brought their bayards) before they got to the security office. The first one he found was Hunk, still in Vrepit Sal’s.

“Hunk, where is Lance?” Shiro demanded.   
“Honestly, no one knows.” Hunk said, frying a plate of meat. “I need the side roots right now—Pidge and Keith went to go look for him about ten minutes ago.”   
“He’s in trouble, Blue is freaking out.” Shiro said. “Where did they—never mind, can you show me?”   
“Where’s that sauce?! Vrepit Sal, we gotta keep this line moving—sure, Shiro, let’s go.”

Hunk handed in his apron. “Sorry Vrepit Sal, but I gotta go.”   
“But what about the sauce?” Vrepit Sal asked.   
Hunk patted him gently. “I have faith in you. Shiro, let’s ride.”   
However, it took them quite a while to find Keith and Pidge, who had gotten lost in the maze of booths and shops.

“What will you give me for directions?” The Unilu grinned.   
Keith’s hand twitched. “We are running out of _time_!”   
“Don’t stab him.” Pidge tugged on Keith’s arm. “ _Don’t stab him_.”   
“I really, really want to.” Keith hissed.

The Unilu frowned. “Rude. Go to the Knife Guy if you’re going to behave that way.”   
“The Knife Guy?” Keith asked.   
“You know the…” The Unilu changed his voice to give it a mocking tone, gesticulating wildly. “Have you ever been at a picnic when a rock monster attacked? This knife can help you! After that, did you want to eat some melon? This knife can do that too! This knife can do _anything_. It can even save your marriage!”

“…After we find Lance, can we go to that guy’s shop?” Keith asked.   
“You know what, sure. Let’s go though.” Pidge pushed Keith away from the Unilu.   
Around this time, Shiro and Hunk showed up.   
“There you are!” Shiro huffed.   
“What are you doing here?” Keith asked.

“Shiro said Blue’s freaking out and Lance is in trouble.” Hunk explained.   
Keith paled. “Where is he?”   
“I don’t know, but I saw the Galra come in.” Shiro said.   
The Unilu sat up straight. “Varkon probably has your friend if this is about the Galra.”

“What do you want in exchange?” Pidge leaned in, glaring at the Unilu.   
“I don’t like Varkon. You’re going to ruin his day, so why shouldn’t I help you?” The Unilu shrugged, then pointed. “There’s a shortcut to his office that way.”   
The paladins sprinted down the way that the Unilu had pointed. Shiro tossed the other paladins their bayards. “Now, we could walk in on a bunch of Galra, so be careful.” He said quietly.   
Keith kicked the door down. “Where’s Lance?!” He demanded.   
Shiro gave a sigh of long-suffering as he, Hunk, and Pidge followed Keith in.

Varkon’s gaze flickered between the four of them. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”   
Keith grabbed the front of Varkon’s shirt. “Don’t. Lie. To. Me. Where is my boyfriend?!”   
“Prince Allances of Altea?” Pidge tried. “About yea tall, blue eyes, shitty puns, disguised as a human?”   
Keith pointed his bayard at Varkon’s throat for good measure.

“Oh, _him_ …” Varkon laughed nervously. “You’re too late, he’s already gone.”   
“Where is he going?!” Keith hissed.   
Varkon shrugged as best he could. “High command?”

Shiro stepped forward. “Keith, let him go. We have to find Coran, and get back to the Queen.”   
“We have to find _Lance_!” Keith hissed.   
“Lance is gone.” Hunk said bluntly. “We need to get back to his sister so we can form a plan to get him back.”   
There was a small dinging noise, signaling a ship nearby had just gone to warp or had come from it. Varkon’s eyes moved to the source of the dinging.

“Look at me!” Keith growled.   
“That’s _enough_ , Keith!” Shiro forcibly pulled his brother back. “Terrorizing this man will solve _nothing_.”   
Pidge followed where Varkon was looking. “Especially since I think the ship Lance was on just went to warp.”   
Keith let Shiro tow him out, though he didn’t stop glaring at Varkon. Pidge nimbly followed, then Hunk shrugged. “Sorry about your door.”

“It’s… fine… I guess?” Varkon said.   
Hunk flashed him a brilliant smile and left as well.   
Varkon stared at the paladins as they left. In the middle of the mall, they ran into Coran, laden with goods, Kaltenecker and the SNES somehow with him.   
“Did you find Lance?” Coran asked cheerfully.

Keith looked at the floor. Pidge sighed, and Hunk patted Kaltenecker’s nose.   
“The Galra took him.” Shiro said quietly. “We need to get back to Allura.”   
Coran paled. “Of course.”   
“Shiro, can you take Kaltenecker with you?” Hunk asked.

“…sure.” Shiro said. The trip back to the castle was somber for both pods.   
Allura called Coran on the pad. “Did you find him?”   
“No, your Majesty.” Coran said quietly. “Apparently the Galra ship that recently went to warp was carrying your brother.”

Allura nodded, largely out of what appeared to be disbelief, before signing off. Coran pulled the castle out of orbit of the swap moon, and set a general course.

On the Galra ship, Lance woke up. His head hurt a lot, and he felt dizzy. He blearily looked up. Though he couldn’t quite see clearly, he saw that there was a Galra soldier in front of him. His eyes widened.   
“Docking procedure initiated.” The solider said, typing something into the computer in front of them.   
Lance looked around frantically. He was very clearly in the command center of a Galra warship. He tried to stand and run, but ultimately couldn't move. His ankles, knees, and legs were all tied separately (and tightly) as well as his wrists and elbows behind his back. Someone had gagged him as well.

“Docking clamps engaged.” The soldier continued, looking up at their commander. The commander nodded slowly. “Smoothly done, Kreean.”   
“No problem at all.” Kreean replied, turning back to their screen. Lance shifted a bit, and Kreean’s eyes immediately snapped to him. “Sir, the prince is awake.”   
The commander grinned. “Well, looks like those pirates have good timing. I would welcome you aboard, Prince Allances, but we are about to disembark.”

Sure enough, the warship was docked, and Lance was dragged off of the ship by Kreean. He was transferred over to several robotic sentries, who brought him to a parlor.   
Prince Lotor was sitting inside with Haggar, drinking tea and reading a report. Lance was dumped unceremoniously on the couch, before the sentries left the room.

Haggar chanted under her breath, and Lance’s ropes and gag were undone. He pulled the now slack ropes off of him, then turned to look at his family. Lotor looked up from his report. “You look different. Dear gods, what have you done to your hair?”   
“I looked like a human. It was a disguise.” Lance finally said, before returning to his true form. There was no use hiding with them.

“There, that’s our Allances.” Haggar said, a smile twitching at her face. She placed her hands in her lap, continuously looking between Lotor and Lance. “Well? Aren’t you going to say something?”   
Lotor looked up again. “Hmm. I must say, you’ve always looked much better as yourself. Now, Lance, aren’t you happy to be back with your family?”   
“Mother and Father are dead, and I was taken from Allura.” Lance pointed out, hugging himself.  
Lotor finally put down his report. “Yes, what happened to Idras was… awful, to say the least. Tell me, Lance. Have you had time to properly mourn her yet?”   
Lance wavered. “I… no. We have a version of her AI saved to the computer on the Castle of Lions, but it’s corrupted and…” He hugged himself tighter.

Haggar and Lotor re-positioned themselves so that they were on either side of him, and very close. Lotor wrapped an arm around Lance. “I know, I know. Not a day goes by where I don’t miss my sister.”   
“But at least you’re with us now.” Haggar said softly. Lotor shot her a look over Lance’s head, clearly saying _leave this to me_. Haggar frowned at him.   
“I… no.” Lance stood. “I can’t—ow, _dammit,_ cramp—”   
“What’s a dammit?” Lotor asked.

“Earth swear.” Lance said. “Anyway, I can’t join you. You—you destroyed Altea! Grandfather killed Mother!”   
Haggar rose as well. “ _Alfor_ was responsible for Idras’ death! He was the one who placed her in the Red Lion, who split them up on that thrice accursed planet!”   
Lotor slammed his teacup down. “Now, that is _enough_. I won’t have our family fighting like this.”   
Haggar whirled on him. “Oh, be _silent_ , Lotor. You act so mature, yet you only ever act out of your own self-interest!”   
Lotor sighed. “Lance, come sit with me.”   
“Give me one good reason why.” Lance growled.

“Because I won’t hurt you.” Lotor patted the spot next to him. “Just listen, and if you still want to leave, you can.”   
Lance frowned, but eventually acquiesced. Haggar sat down on Lotor’s other side.   
“What happened to Idras was a tragedy, no one is denying that, but multiple factors contributed to her death. The corrupted quintessence of Elcmanus, the poor decision of the acting Black Paladin… too many factors are at work for any one person to be blamed.”

Lance tensed. “I don’t believe you.”   
Lotor shrugged. “But will you pay me the courtesy of listening? Thank you. Now, as for your problems with the Empire, it started as a… protective alliance, shall we say. We had only the purest of intentions, but now I can see that it has gone too far.” Haggar shot Lotor an incredulous look. Lotor continued. “With your help, we’ll reform the Empire. We’re too old and jaded for it ourselves, but with your help, we can return to who we once were, hmm?”

Lance shifted in his seat. “I… I… I can’t. Voltron needs me. The people need hope.”   
“But you can do so much more, here with us.” Lotor cooed. “Why waste yourself on a fringe group when you can join us?”   
Lance took a deep breath, before standing. “I’m sorry, Uncle Lotor. I’m sorry Grandmother. I can’t stay with you. My sister, Coran, Blue, _Ke_ —the paladins, they all need me.”

Lotor stood as well, a much more fluid motion than Lance. “Allances, please don’t take this the wrong way, but you’re a prince. There’s a very limited number of royalty in the universe. Really, they can find a pilot wherever they touch down. But _you_ , you’re _special_ , Lance.”   
“Blue chose me.” Lance said firmly. “She needs me. And don’t think I’ve forgotten about Altea.”

Lotor sighed. “If you must go, then go.”   
Lance shot him a wary look, but left the room.   
“What in the name of Al are you doing?” Haggar demanded.   
Lance yelped, and there was the sound of a body hitting the floor.   
Lotor smirked. “The sentries were programmed to refuse to let him leave the room without us. Mother, are you up to performing a memory wipe?”

“You could have let me in on your plan, but yes.” Haggar huffed as the door opened and the sentries deposited him on the couch. “Anything in particular you want me to remove?”   
“I think after the fall of Altea onwards.” Lotor mused. “Or could you possibly make the fall of Altea look like a Drule attack? And keep how he survived.”   
Haggar rolled her eyes. “Only someone related to Zarkon could be so bossy. But yes, I will do it.”

When Lance awoke roughly an hour later, he was dressed in strange clothes, on a strange bed. “Where…” The last thing he remembered was Altea being destroyed by the… Drule? That didn’t seem right, but that’s what he remembered. Perhaps the feeling of betrayal stemmed from Farla—yes! That had to be it! He shakily stood, and opened the door. He stumbled down the corridor, until he ran into a group of druids, of all people. Lance relaxed—the Drule had no druids, but there had been a large exchange between the Galra and Altea before he was born. His grandmother’s coven was made up of some of the best druids on Altea. “Hello.”

The druids looked at each other, before pushing up their masks to reveal that they were Altean. “Prince Allances, how unexpected.” One said softly.   
Lance smiled gently. “I can say the same for you. Um… where am I?”   
“You are on the Galra flagship.” The other said, just as soft. “What is the last thing you remember?”

“I was… in a pod…” Lance frowned. It felt like something was missing… “How did I get here?”   
“The Blue Lion ejected your pod in an effort to hide you.” The first druid said.   
“The ship picked you up recently, but… it’s been ten thousand years.” The second said.   
Oddly enough, that _did_ sound right to Lance. He relaxed, inadvertently burying his memories deeper. “Can you point me towards my Grandmother?”

The druids looked at each other again.   
“She is attending to your grandfather right now.” The first one said. “But we can escort you to where your uncle Lotor is.”   
Lance lit up. “Lead the way.”   
The druids exchanged another look, before pulling their masks down and walking back towards the way they came. Lance followed obediently.

They came to a nondescript door, which Lance opened. Lotor was inside, drinking tea and reading a report. Something about this seemed familiar to Lance, but he brushed it off. “Uncle!”   
Lotor looked up. “Allances!” Lotor stood, and the druids left. “Lance, how are you feeling?”   
“Better than I usually do when I’m in a pod for a long time.” Lance admitted.

“Your translators still got turned off.” Lotor laughed. “Shoddy Northern workmanship, at it again.”   
Lance grinned, then it fell from his face. “Is it true that Altea is… just… gone?”   
Lotor nodded slowly. “I’m afraid so. None felt its loss more keenly than Galaris, I can tell you that.”   
Lance drew a shaky breath. “Did anyone else make it out alive?”

Lotor sighed. “We have received intelligence reports that your sister is alive, as well as… Coran, I believe? However, as far as we can tell, they were captured by an insurgent group. They also have the lions, Lance.”   
Lance’s blood ran cold. “No…”   
Lotor nodded slowly. “Yes… they’ve been attacking our allies, one by one. It’s… don’t worry yourself about it, you’re still young.”

“Uncle, I want to help.” Lance said firmly.   
Lotor smiled softly. “Well… alright then. But first rest, you know how we get after pods.”   
Lance rolled his eyes, but smiled all the same.   
“You should go get changed.” Lotor said. “We picked you up wearing that, and you were babbling about a disguise.”

Lance looked back down at the strange clothes, then nodded. “Of course.”   
He returned to his room and changed, kicking the strange clothes he had been wearing all day to the side, forgetting them completely.

Several days later in the castle, Allura emerged from her room, mostly healed. Keith had been in the training room as often as possible. Hunk and Shiro speculated that he wasn’t eating.   
Pidge had been trying to hack into the Galra mainframe with Coran and Kurok since they got back.   
Hunk had been trying to take care of everyone, leaving food for Pidge, Coran and Kurok, leaving water for Keith (he wouldn’t take the food) and trying to make Shiro sleep. He either couldn’t, or he wouldn’t.

Allura’s footsteps were the loudest thing in the castle when she emerged. She stepped into the training room, where Keith and a gladiator were mercilessly battering each other. “Disengage.” She called. The gladiator bowed, then leapt into the hole that was created in the floor.   
Keith shot her the dirtiest look she had ever received in her life. “What _exactly_ do you think you’re doing?” He spat.

“There is a meeting in the control room in thirty of your earth minutes.” Allura said crisply. “Be there, and be a civilized being, not this feral creature.”   
Keith spoke hoarsely. “And why should I listen to you?”   
“Because I actually have a plan to get him back, instead of taking out my aggression on a gladiator.” Allura huffed.

“And you expect me to believe that you care about Lance?” Keith tried to laugh, but it came out more as a hoarse cough.   
Allura closed her eyes. “Do not make the mistake of thinking that you’re the only one who cares about my brother. I will never forgive myself for what I’ve done to him, and I’m horrified that it took losing him to do it. The last thing I said to him…”

“Yeah, you’ve been a real yelmor’s ass to him.” Keith commented.   
Allura narrowed her eyes. “Indeed. Anyway, clean yourself up, and come to the control room.” Her next stop was Shiro, who was ensconced in the Black Lion’s hangar.   
He looked up, hearing her footsteps from across the room. “Allura?”

“Shiro, I’m holding a meeting in the control room in…” She mentally did the math. “Twenty-three Earth minutes. We’re going to discuss how to get Lance back.”   
Shiro jerked away from the Black Lion. “I… I… I’ll be there.”   
Allura smiled gently. “Alright, but then I’m going to have to ask you to take a nap.”

“Allura, I let down my team again. I can’t sleep, even if I wanted to.” Shiro explained.   
Allura nodded slowly. “Do you need a non-addictive sedative?”   
Shiro smiled. “That’d be great.”   
“See you in the control room.” She nodded at him.   
She proceeded to Pidge’s lab in the Green Lion’s hangar. Pidge, Coran, and Kurok were working at three separate screens. On a large corkboard behind them, a screenshot of Lance (with Keith badly cut out) was pinned to it, as well as two pictures of what Allura assumed was Pidge’s family.

Suddenly, Kurok said, “I hit a block in the Galra code.”   
He and Pidge immediately switched computers.   
Allura cleared her throat.   
Coran’s entire body jolted, Kurok froze, and Pidge frowned. “You threw off my code.”

“We’re meeting in the control room in twenty Earth minutes.” Allura said. “I want all of you there.”   
“We can’t form Voltron.” Pidge pointed out.   
“We’re not going to form Voltron.” Allura said. “We’re going after Lance.”

Pidge stopped typing entirely. “You mean it?”   
“Why wouldn’t I?” Allura quirked an eyebrow.   
Pidge laughed. “Right, ride or die.” She stood, and nearly toppled over. Coran and Kurok caught her.   
“You don’t have to go immediately.” Allura said quickly.

“Number Five, I’m going to have to _insist_ you eat this goo that Number Two left for you.” Coran said. Pidge sighed. “I _guess…_ see you there, Allura.”   
Allura went to find Hunk as Pidge was even more thoroughly adopted by even more space dads. She found him in his room. She knocked twice on the door, then opened it and screamed.

Hunk looked up from the report on the castle he was reading. “Allura—no, Ted! Naughty  Ted!”   
Ted the klanmuirl was growling at Allura and advancing slowly. Allura’s hands became encircled with what looked a lot like pink energy. Hunk snuck up on Ted and sprayed him with a water bottle. “Naughty Ted! No scaring the Queen!”

Chastised, Ted returned to his corner of the room, covered in cushions. Actually, most of the Yellow Paladin’s room was covered in cushions. Soft light filtered through various fabrics hanging from the ceiling. The walls were lined in bookshelves, organized in a system not unlike the Dewey Decimal system, on a variety of topics such as alien physiology, psychology, diplomacy, and a few books on Earth mechanics that appeared to be Hunk’s. Kaltenecker the cow sat in a part of the room whereupon the cushions mimicked grasses. Spying at least one book on gardening as well, Allura assumed correctly that Hunk had done his own cleaning after they had been through with the room.

However, she returned to the topic at hand. “You have a _klanmuirl_?!”   
“Yeah? I thought La—I thought Keith and Pidge told you?” Hunk asked.   
Allura sent Ted a dirty look. “Apparently not.”   
Ted growled in response.

“Hey, don’t be mad at Ted for what Pidge did.” Hunk said. “He’s a sweetheart.”   
“He’s going to eat your Kaltenecker.” Allura pointed out.   
Hunk waved her off. “Allura, I know how to feed a carnivorous animal. My mom is a zookeeper.”   
“If you’re sure… anyway, we’re holding a meeting in the control room in roughly thirteen Earth minutes.” Allura said.

“Oh, is Voltron needed…?” Hunk asked.   
Allura shook her head. “We’re going to get Lance back.”   
Hunk nodded slowly. “Right, right, all for that, but… do you have a plan?”

“You’re the first person who has asked that.” Allura said. “And actually, yes, I do.”   
Hunk smiled. “There’s that at least.” Then he sobered. “Is he in… danger?”   
“He was captured by the Galra, Hunk.” Allura said in shock.

“Right, right, I know that. But all the same, it’s different than when Shiro got captured, or what they’d probably do to me, Pidge, or Keith.” Hunk pointed out.   
“Just because Lance and I are part Galra—”   
“Allura, I’m not downplaying the fact that Lance is probably being held against his will. However, you two are the grandchildren of _Zarkon_. Normal Galra don’t just try to chop you up and give you laser arms for that.”

The tension left Allura’s shoulders. “So you know. Yes, Lance is in less danger than others would be, but he is still… there are several scenarios that could be at play.”   
Hunk nodded. “And you already collected everyone else?”   
Allura shrugged. “I asked them to come. I don’t know if some will.”

“Keith? Nah, he’ll come, he’ll do anything for Lance.” Hunk said.

Allura nodded. “Well, we should get going if we’re going to make it in time.”   
Hunk gave a small smile. “It’d be a bit silly to be late to a meeting you called.”   
They made it just in time. Thankfully, Keith had showered and changed his clothes, and his hair hid the dark circles under his eyes. Pidge had eaten, and Shiro didn’t seem as jumpy.

Allura cleared her throat, and pulled up a screen. “As you all know, Lance has been captured by the Galra. Due to his lineage, he likely won’t be left to the druids.” Several little graphics popped up on the screen.   
“Option one, Lance is being held against his will as a bargaining chip for us. In this scenario, he may be hurt to encourage us to act rashly and move without a suitable plan.” Allura took a deep breath. “However, I doubt that this will come to pass, and I doubt that they would hurt him that much.”

“Hang on, Lance’s safety and wellbeing rests on your _doubts_.” Keith growled.   
“The queen has a point.” Kurok pointed out. “It would be extremely unlikely if—”   
“We are not going to worry about it being _unlikely_! If it wasn’t going to happen, she wouldn’t have brought it up!” Keith snarled, his hands curling into fists.   
Hunk pulled on his arm. “Don’t start—”

“They could very well do the same thing that they did to Shiro!” Keith snapped. “I don’t care who Lance’s grandfather is—”   
“It’s Zarkon.” Shiro interrupted. Keith froze, but Shiro continued. “And his grandmother is the boss of the people who gave me this.” He gestured to his arm.

“Shiro…” Keith said softly.   
“Just sit down and listen to what Allura has to say, okay Keith?” Shiro looked at Allura without waiting for a response from Keith.   
Allura cleared her throat. “Thank you, Shiro. Now, the second option is that they will keep him under lock and key, and parade him as a prisoner of war, goading us once again into action. This option differs from the previous one in that they would broadcast the results across the entire Galra controlled universe, and while they wouldn’t harm him enough to leave a mark, they would use other means of keeping him under their control, such as regular sedatives, or withholding food and water.”

Pidge adjusted their glasses. “And… how likely do you think this is?”   
Allura shrugged. “I don’t know how long it would take my brother to break, but if he had already broken, we would know about it. Honestly, I think it’s still unlikely, yet more likely than the previous option. It may even play into option number three.”

The third graphic flashed across the screen. It was at first a jumble of portraits—Lotor, Haggar, Zarkon, and Lance. Then it reformed itself into a family tree that included Idras, Alfor, and Allura. Coran frowned.   
Allura took a deep breath. “I believe that Lotor and Haggar would try to subvert Lance and win him over. Whether they did this through Haggar’s magic, or the disgusting tactics previously mentioned, I don’t know. What I am sure of is that they want not only his loyalty, but him to remain with them in what is functionally a prison, despite his life of luxury. Their focus is not on Voltron like Zarkon’s is, but rather on their so-called family. Lance has always been their favorite, so it would not surprise me.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, are you saying he’d betray us?” Hunk asked.   
“I am saying nothing of the sort.” Allura said. “But I prepared for that question.”   
She pressed a button, and Lance’s voice spat, “Do you think I’d willingly join those who killed _both_ of our parents? Because I will tell you here and now—my loyalty is to _Voltron_ , and it always will be.”   
Allura continued, “Lance’s will has somehow been subverted, and I do not doubt that they will be taking every measure imaginable to make sure that we cannot take him back and undo the damage that they have caused.”

Here she took a deep breath. “What I am about to propose will rely on one person, and will further cripple Voltron. We may have to find replacement pilots.”   
“I’ll do it.” Keith said quickly.   
“She may not have been talking about you.” Hunk sighed. “Just… calm down, Keith.”

“As a matter of fact, I was.” Allura looked to Shiro, who nodded after a minute. “I need someone who can go undercover and get close to Lance without arousing suspicion. Once they have this access, they will wait for a public event wherein they will erode some of the security and the others will infiltrate the event, carrying Lance off quietly.”   
“Why Keith?” Pidge asked. “Also, was I the only one who didn’t know about the Zarkon thing?”   
“I didn’t.” Keith pointed out.

“I did.” Hunk said. “Like I said, Lance told me.”   
“And Allura told me most of it, Sendak ended up filling in the blanks.” Shiro shrugged tiredly. "It took me a while, but I figured he wasn't lying. Filled in a lot of the blanks if I'm being honest."   
“Still, Your Majesty, why Keith?” Coran asked.

“Because Keith is half-Galra.” Shiro said.   
Keith froze. “No. No, I’m not. I’m from Earth…”   
“Keith, we don’t know anything about your biological parents except that one of them was Korean, and that they left you that knife you carry everywhere.” Shiro sighed. “When you got hurt after the Galra blew up the castle and you were in the pod, your genetic readout indicated that you’re half-Galra.”

Keith struggled out of Hunk’s arms. “No, no, I’m not like them.”   
“Rude.” Kurok muttered.   
Shiro sighed. “Keith, you’re still my brother. Nothing can change that.”   
Allura closed the screen. “We’ll give you two some time to talk about this. Coran, can you please come with me? Keith, meet me in the hologram room when you’re done.”

Hunk joined Pidge and Kurok. “I’ll take over for Coran.” Everyone filed out of the room except for Keith and Shiro.   
“I’m _human_.” Keith spat.   
Shiro sighed, then sat down on the stairs leading up to the controls. He patted the step next to him, and Keith sat down.

“Keith, there are seven billion human beings on planet Earth. I don’t even know how many Galra there are spread throughout the universe. Here’s what I _do_ know; there are good and bad people, so it stands to reason that there are good and bad Galra. It’s up to you to decide who you want to be, but the lessons you’ve learned in life so far from me and Mom and Dad still stand. Even if it turns out you’re related to Zarkon himself, which I really, really hope you’re not given what you and Lance have been doing, that doesn’t change who you are.”

Keith hugged himself. “How can you just… forgive so easily after what happened to you?”   
“Well, partially because I can’t remember most of it.” Shiro said cheerfully.   
Keith shot him a dark look, and Shiro sighed. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding. It’s not that there’s nothing that I need to forgive, but you’re not responsible for what happened to me, and you’re not responsible for the Galra Empire. I know that, Allura knows that, everyone knows that. What we need now is for you to use this to save Lance.”

Keith nodded. “…did you really know when I got put in a healing pod for the first time?”   
Shiro wrapped an arm around his brother’s shoulders. “Honestly? I had my suspicions. Your eyes are purple, Keith.”   
“Shut up, they’re blue.” Keith laughed.   
Shiro grimaced. “Not… not the general human pigmentation. And there was this time when you were four and I got stuck babysitting… the power went out during a thunderstorm, and you threw a tantrum in front of an open window. I was worried about you falling out, but when the lightning flashed behind you, I just noticed that your eyes seemed violet.”

“Galra eyes are golden.” Keith pointed out.   
Shiro shrugged. “You’ve also usually been much heavier than your physique would suggest. You’re a slender boy, Keith, and the second-shortest Paladin, but I’d guess you weigh as much as me with my metal arm attached. Mom and Dad were always wondering about that. Plus you’ve been obsessed with aliens as long as you’ve known about them. Honestly, with the fact that Dad just sort of came home with you one day out of the desert and stuff, I always kind of joked you were a holdover from Roswell or something.”

Keith scoffed. “Roswell happened over 150 years ago. Get your facts right.”   
“I was seven years old.” Shiro laughed. “Cut me some slack.”   
At the sight of his brother laughing, Keith smiled. “Nothing’s going to change, right?”   
“Keith, we’re in space, flying robot lions. You’re dating an alien prince, who has been kidnapped and probably brainwashed by his grandmother, a ten thousand year old witch who stole my arm and gave me a magic prosthetic. Everything has already changed, and everything will continue to change, except the past. I haven’t forgotten eighteen years of you being my brother.”

“I’m nineteen.”   
“Well, I wasn’t around for the last year, and I can’t remember it.” Shiro stood. “Now go see Allura.”   
Keith nodded, and stood as well. He knocked once on the door to the hologram room.   
“Come in.” Allura called.

She and Coran were sitting at a holographic table, teacups in front of them. In front of them was another chair with another full teacup on the table. As far as Keith could tell, all the cups were real. Around them stretched a beautiful view of a mountainside covered in flowers.   
“When did you have time for this?” Keith asked.   
“It was in a stasis bubble for quite some time. I made it before coming to talk to you all.” Allura replied. “Please, sit.”

Keith sat. Silence fell for a few minutes, and Keith sipped his tea to avoid speaking.   
Allura leaned back. “Now, Keith, I’ve called you here today as a safety measure in case something untoward happens between you and Allances. I don’t want my brother tossed out into the cold.”   
Keith nearly spat out his tea, which was incredibly bitter and tasted like ground up grass, but he swallowed and nodded.

Allura smiled, and twirled a pad stylus in her fingers. “Good, you understand. Now, what is your formal title?”   
“Cadet.” Keith choked out. “Besides Paladin, I mean.”   
“Non-military, please.” Allura said.   
“Um… Mr?” Keith tried.

Allura and Coran exchanged a look.   
“We always were under the impression that he wasn’t nobility.” Coran gently reminded her. Allura sighed and wrote it down on a pad. “Keith, do you own any land?”   
“No.” Keith admitted.   
Allura sighed. “What is the highest rank a member of your family has currently attained?”

“My mom’s a General of the Air Force, and my dad has a doctoral degree in Archaeology.” Keith said.   
Allura nodded and wrote that down. “Now we’re getting somewhere. Keith, should Voltron complete its mission, what do you intend to do with yourself?”   
Keith almost compulsively took another sip of the terrible tea. “Um… I don’t know… go back to Earth, I guess?”

“And what if you and Lance were married?” Allura asked, without taking her eyes from him. “What would you do then?”   
“I guess… I don’t know? Oh god, we’d live with you for the rest of our lives.” Keith blurted out.   
Allura scowled, and Coran sighed. “Perhaps we used a bit too much truth serum.”   
“You _drugged_ me?” Keith growled.

“For the greater good!” Coran replied cheerfully. “Alteans take marriage quite seriously.”   
“Again with the… why do you think I want to marry Lance?!” Keith demanded.   
Allura nearly dropped her pen. “What do you mean?”    
“I mean, you’ve been trying to make me do this since we first met! Lance and I just started dating! I’m nineteen years old!” Keith protested.

Allura leaned back. “But do you love Lance?”   
“I _guess_ , but I’ve never been in love before!” Keith protested.   
She leaned on her hands. “And how, exactly, does Lance make you feel?”

“He makes me feel like I matter most in the universe. His smile is brighter than the sun, and I want to protect him from everything—especially you—and I love watching him fly and he brings out the best in me, especially for Voltron and he makes me a better person by _being_ a better person—hey! Don’t think I’ve forgotten you’ve drugged me.”   
“Sounds to me like you love him.” Coran commented.

Keith shot him a dirty look. “Maybe I do. That doesn’t mean I want to get _married_ right now.”   
Allura wrote something down. “Anyway, don’t you humans have divorce?”   
Keith glared at her. “We’re not _that_ callous. I don’t want to marry Lance just to lose him. Divorce feels… wrong to me.”   
Coran muttered something to Allura, who nodded and wrote it down. “Keith, you have said multiple times that you don’t want to marry my brother. However, I worry that if I send you on this mission without approving you as an acceptable marriage candidate, you will inadvertently cause a bonding with Lance and thus bring shame and dishonor to our entire family.”

“You’re thinking of taking me off the mission just because I don’t want to marry Lance yet?!” Keith hissed, standing abruptly.    
Allura nodded calmly. “Exactly. The fact of the matter is, you’re an incredibly capable paladin Keith. But I don’t trust you to remain in close quarters with Lance and not accidentally trigger a bonding.”   
“So you would jeopardize everything over _this_?”

Allura sipped her own tea, which Keith highly suspected wasn’t drugged. “No, I would come up with a new plan, one that doesn’t rely on your subterfuge. In all likelihood, it would involve a quick extraction of Lance as soon as possible, though I don’t know the possible casualties.”   
Keith’s blood ran cold. “Ca-casualties? Like, on our side?”   
Allura nodded grimly. “We would more or less be flying into a heavily occupied zone, with possibly only four lions in commission.”

“Couldn’t you fly Blue?” Keith asked.   
Allura pursed her lips. “In all honesty, what is more likely is that I would end up flying Red in case of an emergency. _You_ would be bumped to Blue, and despite your bond to Lance, the process would not go smoothly. We may not be able to form Voltron either way, and in any moment of confusion, Lance might be carried away by an innocuous ship to an unknown location.”

Keith sat back down. “I don’t… actually have to marry him, right?”   
Allura nodded. “That’s correct. This is just a safety measure.”   
Keith nodded in return. “Then… I’ll do it.”   
Allura smiled. “Perfect, then it’s approved. However,” here she glared directly at Keith, “hurt my brother, and I will _hurt_ you. Clear?”

“As crystal.” Keith said. “Um… can I… go now?”   
Allura nodded. “Sure. You should probably talk to Kurok about life on Galaris.”   
“Wait, what? Why?” Keith asked.   
Allura sighed. “We will be stopping briefly at Galaris to drop Sendak off. While there, you will enroll in the Galra Army under a pseudonym, and claiming allegiance to Zarkon at any opportunity. Lotor and Lance will likely be there soon, and Lotor will take the opportunity to choose a bodyguard or two from the new recruits.”

“Won’t they recognize me?” Keith asked. “I’m pretty sure I saw some wanted posters at the space mall.”   
Allura stood. “Here I must ask you for something enormous that only you can give. We can potentially alter your DNA so that your features become more Galra-like. It will be painful when you emerge from the pod, but that should wear off within a few days. The genetic augmentation won’t. It could be permanent, Keith. The decision is up to you.”

“If I don’t, we go back to Plan B, right?” Keith asked.   
“Please don’t worry about that right now.” Coran asked.   
“Yes.” Allura said at the same time.   
Coran sighed. “Your Majesty, I don’t think scaring him into anything will help.”

“I’m not scaremongering, Coran. There are very real consequences to either decision.” Allura replied.   
Keith closed his eyes. He imagined himself looking in a mirror, with Galra teeth, ears, and eyes, purple fur covering every inch of him. He imagined his parents overjoyed to see him and Takashi back, then screaming in horror when they saw him. Then he imagined Katie screaming and the Green Lion being ripped apart by drones, Takashi beaten and thrown back into their terrible arena, Hunk’s shouts of pain interspersed with trying to soothe his lion, who was sent into spasms after an ion cannon attack, and then… silence.

“I’ll do it.” Keith said quietly. “I’ll… turn Galra.”   
Allura moved around the table and hugged him. “Thank you, Keith. I can’t tell you how much this means to me.”   
Keith hesitantly hugged her back. Coran sent him a soft smile, then picked up the teacups and dissolved the hologram. Allura released Keith, and led him to the medical bay.

“This is your last chance to refuse it, Keith.” She said.   
Keith took a deep breath. “I’m… ready.” Allura handed him a pod-suit, and he stepped behind a screen. He changed, then stepped into the nearest pod. Immediately the glass frosted over. Outside, he could see Allura type something into a pad, then the sedative hit him in the jugular vein, and he passed out.


	12. Keith's Family

Keith fell out of the pod, aching all over. He felt two pairs of hands take his arms, and hoist him to his feet.   
“Easy there, buddy.” Shiro murmured.   
“Takashi, I want Mom.” Keith muttered.   
One of the hands on his left was removed from his arm, and he felt someone ruffle his hair. “I know, Keith, but you’re going to have to wait a while.”  
“Dad, then?” Keith groaned.   
“No Dad either, sorry kiddo.”   
“Not a kiddo.” Keith muttered, as he unceremoniously sat down on the ground, dragging the other hands down with him.

He stayed there for a few minutes, both voices chiming in, until he realized what was happening. At the same time, his vision began to clear up.  
Shiro smiled at him. “You doing okay, Keith?”   
Keith nodded, then looked at his hands. Galra claws had sprouted from his aching fingers, and he swore he saw dried blood around them. Purple fur covered the entirety of his arms, including his palms.

Keith lifted a hand. “Just like that pastor for that weird Sunday school we went to when I was six for some reason said.”   
Shiro laughed. “I doubt Pastor McConnell imagined this exact situation. And Keith, we went there because Dad needed to impress his boss or something with us being ‘good Christian young men’.”   
“I’m a furry.” Keith pointed out. “I think I failed at that a long time ago.”

Shiro laughed again. The second person next to Keith, who turned out to be Coran, helped him to his feet. “How are you feeling, Number Three?”   
“Terrible.” Keith replied honestly. “I’d ask if I could sleep it off, but I don’t think any amount of drugs will help me sleep right now.”   
“That’s good, because Allura needs to talk to you.” Coran grinned. Keith grimaced.

Shiro and Coran helped him to the control room, where Allura, Hunk, Pidge, and Kurok had all congregated.   
“We should be in Galaris airspace in roughly three vargas.” Kurok said, in Coran’s place at the helm.    
Allura almost imperceptibly flinched when he spoke, but nodded. “Excellent. Pidge, how is Sendak doing?”   
Pidge pulled up a screen. “Still sedated. Vitals look normal, I’ll check back in once we get closer to Galaris.”  
Allura nodded again. “Right on track. Hunk, how is the translator for Keith coming along?”   
“Right on track. It should be ready in like… an hour, I think?” Hunk said.   
Shiro cleared his throat, and everyone turned.

“Coran!” Kurok grinned.   
“Kurok!” Coran smiled back, going to meet him halfway and drawing him into an embrace.   
“Wow, how long have they been separated?” Keith asked Shiro.   
“Two hours, give or take.” Shiro shrugged.

Allura looked Keith over several times. “Hmm… not half bad, Keith. Now, what’s your cover story?”   
“I… so I’m a random Galra, right.” Keith began.   
“No, you really can’t pass for a local.” Kurok interrupted.   
“I look like a Galra!” Keith shot back.   
Kurok crossed his arms and leaned on the panel. “You act like a human. Just tell the truth, or at least a part of it. That’s where the best lies come from. To that end, I wouldn’t give you a cover name either. The Galra have no way of knowing your names unless they somehow intercepted Pidge’s videos, and I sincerely doubt that.”

Everyone relaxed slightly, and Keith, Shiro, and Coran took their places at their consoles.

At Star Command, everyone was moving hurriedly. Tables were cleared, launchpads evacuated for fresh ships, and people shoved out of the way as more and more people were brought to Sam’s medical lab after a mission gone wrong.   
“Non-life-threatening injuries to the left side of the room!” Sam ordered. “Emergency patients to the right!” He conscripted several locals with general medical knowledge to act as assistants, and set to emergency work, judging whose wounds could wait. He worked long into the night, even as his last assistants turned in.

His last patient was Jetr.   
“Come on, come on… don’t let me be too late.” Samuel begged softly as he closed the wound. “Come on, not you too. I need you.”   
Jetr’s hand twitched, then his eyes slowly opened. “The Samuel…?”   
“I’m here, Jetr.” Samuel said, maneuvering himself to be in Jetr’s field of vision.

Jetr raised a purple eyebrow. “Is this… what it took… to get you to… speak to me again?”   
“What do you mean?” Samuel asked.   
Jetr spoke slowly and softly. “I mean, you’ve been avoiding me since I confessed.”   
“I can’t cheat on Colleen.” Samuel said quietly. “But… I can’t lose you either.” He pulled Jetr’s pink, furry hand into his. “Jetr, I want to be around you, I want to-to… be intimate with you, in some ways.”   
“Is this your guilt speaking?” Jetr asked. “For avoiding me, The Samuel?”   
Samuel knelt next to Jetr’s bed so that they were roughly at eye-level. “No. I mean, that’s part of it, but when you were brought in, when I thought I was too late… I haven’t felt that heart-clenching fear in a long time, Jetr. It made me realize just how important you are to me.”

Jetr shifted himself so that he was more or less sitting upright. “The Samuel, I have been thinking. What will happen when you find the Matt and the Shiro? Will you return to the Colleen? I… I don’t know if I can have this, only to lose a lover again. I was… wrong before. Misguided.”   
“I haven’t thought about that. Space is vast, and the Galra have both of them in their clutches last I checked. But… Earth isn’t always the best place, but it should still be untouched by the Galra. Do you want to go back with me?” Samuel asked.   
Jetr gave a soft smile (which for him was full of teeth). “Perhaps, The Samuel. We shall see how Star Command is.”   
Samuel smiled back, then softly kissed Jetr. “Perhaps is better than I’ve had in a while.”

Meanwhile, Colleen was smiling at the scientists in charge of Kara’s facility. “So, have I been clear?”   
“We are absolutely not going to give the test subject to you.” The head scientist said.   
Colleen leaned forward, still smiling. “Oh, I think you will. You have failed to make any progress with her whatsoever, and it is abundantly clear that she is _at least_ at the human level of sentience. What’s more, I can leak her circumstances to the press.”

“What, they’ll just believe you?” The scientist smiled evilly.   
Colleen pulled out her phone. “Of course.” She flipped through pictures of Kara she had taken from a camera that she had planted on Sakura. The scientist made a grab for her phone, and she held it away. “Plus I have backups with the Shiroganes, in the bank, on several different computers, and I emailed myself, my husband, and both of my children a copy. Oh, and there’s also the fact that I’m pretty sure my fourteen year old daughter was able to find out more about the Galra in a matter of a few months, and that’s just her.”

The scientists scoffed. “What the hell is a Galra?”   
“Kara is.” Colleen stopped smiling, and pulled up a video on her phone. “And these are. Kurok and Sendak, two Galra captured by my daughter and her friends. Despite Sendak’s loud protests, you can see he’s in _much_ better condition than Kara.”

“It’s actually interesting you drew a comparison to that particular Galra—he is visually quite similar to Subject 5-83A. Fascinating.” A young scientist noted.   
Everyone turned to glare at him, and he shrank in his seat.   
“How did your daughter get this footage?” The head scientist asked.   
“The same way she got the Galra—she’s in space, and it’s not important.” Colleen shrugged. “But several reputable sites know about Katie in space, and if I suddenly came forward with the knowledge that there was a Galra on Earth…”

“We have decided to call subject 5-83A’s species the Felinons.” The head scientist crossed his arms.   
“That’s stupid and sounds like an ineffective mixing of feline and felons.” Colleen pointed out. “Just give me Kara, and if she reveals any information about Galra weaknesses, I might tell you.”   
“You would deliberately impede government work?” The head scientist scoffed.   
Colleen shook her head. “No. I’d tell the weapons makers. I have a feeling things are going to change soon about the state of our relations with extra-terrestrials. They probably shouldn’t know what we did to Kara.”

“Be that as it may, this is the only species so far that’s confirmed to be able to have a viable hybrid with human beings.” The head scientist said. “Even other apes are unable to do so.”   
Colleen narrowed her eyes. “And where is the hybrid?”   
“We… have been unable to locate it. Apparently, it can blend in with humans.” The head scientist looked almost giddy. “But we’ve been tracking subject 5-83A’s menstrual cycles, and she’s going to ovulate soon, so—”

“Touch her and I will bring this institution down around your ears.” Colleen said quietly. “You’ll all be turned out on the street. Some of you will be shunned, some of you will be laughed at, but none of you will ever work in a scientific institution ever again. Would another hybrid really be worth that?”   
“…yes…” The head scientist said questioningly. “The hybrid is a huge advance in our current science. Subject 5-83A is stronger, faster than normal humans, and she is barely past her prime—”

Colleen cut him off with a bang of her phone on the table. “Listen, I know where the hybrid is right now, and you’re not going to find him. If I give you some of his medical records and some of his school records, particularly in things like physical education, can you give me Kara?”   
The scientists looked at each other, then nodded.

A few minutes later, Colleen waved and smiled at Kara as she walked out of her cell to the meeting area, and she took Kara’s hand. As soon as Kara was unshackled, Colleen quickly escorted her to her hovercar.   
“It’s so bright…” Kara groaned.   
Colleen handed her some sunglasses. “Sorry about that. I didn’t want to be around here at night, they might be bolder. And I’m also sorry that we’re going to take a long journey—the drive up to New York should take a few hours by hovercar.”   
“With you, I’d go anywhere.” Kara sent Colleen a smile. “I can never thank you enough.”

In a galaxy far, far away, Matt crouched behind a wall as the intruders threw something else. Then he ran as it began spewing smoke. He stopped, coughing strongly, and someone approached. It was one of the guards, who swung at him. Matt ducked and kicked out, knocking him off balance into the smoke, and then running away. He soon ran smack-dab into someone else, who grabbed his wrists. Coughing, Matt tried to wrench himself free, only for the hands to grip his wrists tighter.

Whoever it was pulled him out of the smoke, still hacking. “Peace, you’re safe now.”   
Matt, who had had chronic asthma, continued to cough. He held up a finger indicating he’d still take a minute. While he was coughing his lungs out, he noticed that the intruders had masks on as well as odd-uniforms hiding their species.  
“Human Matt.” One of the other prisoners who had been gathered by the insurgents. “Are you dying?”   
“Kinda.” Matt ground out. “I don’t suppose any of you have any albuterol inhalers on you…?”   
The alien who had grabbed his wrists swept him up bridal style. “We do not have time for this. Come, we have work to do.”

Matt covered his mouth with his elbow as the alien carried him onboard a nearby ship. This was playing out like one of his Grandma Holt’s old rom-coms, or one of those salacious novels she read. If Matt’s savior/kidnapper ended up shirtless in the woods, Matt was _leaving_. Matt continued to cough unsexily, privately of the opinion that if said savior/kidnapper was the brooding type, all he’d think of was Takashi’s little brother. He was _not_ going to be a heroine, dammit.

The savior/kidnapper put the ship on autopilot, then moved to help Matt. “I’ve never seen anyone have this reaction to the smoke.”   
“I have asthma.” Matt said in between coughs.   
The savior/kidnapper looked at him quizzically, then pulled out a first aid kit. He filled a hypospray with something in the kit, then injected it into Matt’s neck. Instantly the coughing slowed, and soon stopped.

“What was that?” Matt asked.   
“I don’t know, I’m not a doctor.” The alien chuckled, before removing his mask. Thankfully for Matt, he didn’t have long, flowing locks and dark soulful eyes. The alien had a nose sort of like a pig snout, and large pink eyes with a purple iris. His face was lightly covered in blue hair, with darker blue skin underneath. Matt found his smile charming, and that was when he knew—he had fucked up, he was a furry for aliens (his parents would be so disappointed and Katie would kinkshame the hell out of him) and he was definitely going to fall in love with this alien despite his misgivings about a romance novel situation.

“Fuck.” Matt muttered.   
“Excuse me, I do not understand.” The alien gave Matt a small smile. “Are you alright?”   
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.” Matt sighed. “You’re just beautiful, and sweet, and unless you turn out to be a terrible person, I’m like 90% sure I’m going to fall head over heels for you.”   
The alien laughed. “Is your species prophetic?”

“Nah, I’m just good at predictions.” Matt smiled back.   
“Well, I’m not averse to a relationship with you, but I should at least learn your name. I’m Hyvet.”   
“I’m Matt. Where are you taking us?”   
“To our base, somewhere safe.” Hyvet sat back down at the controls.   
Matt gave him finger guns. “Hyvet, you could take me anywhere.”   
Hyvet laughed again, and the ship shot towards the stars. “Oh, I like you Matt.”

Meanwhile, Keith was having his translator installed in his ear, and Sendak was being prepared for travel back to Galaris. Keith flinched as the translator connected to his auditory nerve, and he could still feel it stretching on into his Wernicke’s area. He twitched his ear experimentally.   
“Is that good?” Hunk asked.   
“Say something in your mother tongues.” Allura recommended.   
“I am a jelly donut.” Pidge said, looking straight at Keith. Her voice sounded somewhat distorted.   
“Did you just say that you’re a jelly donut?” Keith asked.

“I mean I was referencing the first President Kennedy but sure, I guess.” Pidge shrugged.   
Hunk said, in a similar distorted way, “I am only like fifty percent sure that this is going to work.”   
“It does work.” Keith said.   
Shiro put a hand on Keith’s shoulder. “There’s no point to my speaking Japanese, you’ll know it either way. I guess that proves it, get ready to be shot down.”

Keith nodded, and hopped off of the examination table. He followed the others to the launch bay, where Coran and Kurok had loaded Sendak into a pod. Pidge handed him a bag of his belongings. Keith rifled through it for a minute. “Where’s my knife?”   
“Your bayard?” Hunk asked. “You can’t take that.”

“No, the knife I got from my bio-parents.” Keith explained.   
Shiro sighed deeply. “You brought your special knife to _space_?”   
“Yeah? I bring it everywhere.”   
“Wh—did you bring a knife into the Garrison?!” Shiro demanded.  
Keith shrugged. “Honestly, the biggest challenge was kindergarten. By the time I was enrolled in the Garrison, I’d already taken it everywhere.”   
Shiro closed his hands in front of his face, almost as if in prayer. “Patience yields focus, patience yields focus, patience yields focus…”

“I’m going to go get my knife.” Keith said. “It’ll take about a minute—oh. You have it.”   
Allura approached slowly, holding the knife away from her. “Where did you get this?” She said softly.   
“I’ve always had it.” Keith said. “Give me my knife.”   
Allura held it away from him. “No. If anyone down there sees this, and connects you to the Blade of Marmora, you will be thrown in jail. Do you understand what this emblem means, Keith?! It means you want to _kill_ the king!”

“Don’t we? And isn’t it Zarkon?” Keith asked.   
Allura glared at him. “Zarkon isn’t the first ruler of the Galra. Our great-grandfather, Lotark, was killed by the Blade of Marmora. They are responsible for all of this.”   
“And even if the royal family didn’t have that particular history, they’re still currently rebels.” Kurok pointed out. “Not nice people to associate with when you’re trying to get extremely close to the Royal Family.”

Keith glared at them. “I am very good at hiding that knife.”   
“Keith, just leave the knife.” Shiro sighed.   
“Sendak’s sedative is going to wear off soon.” Pidge pointed out. “Also, I recognize that knife. Didn’t you bring that to school for show and tell when we were little, and got sent to the principal’s office multiple times over that knife?”   
“And suspended.” Keith agreed. “He tried to take my knife, I wasn’t about to allow that.”

“I think we should just give Keith the knife if he loves it that much.” Hunk said, nervously looking between the paladins. Keith took a deep breath, and shook his head. “No, keep it. I… I’m not going to get the mission thrown out over it. It’s safe here, and Lance is more important.”   
Pidge clutched a hand to her chest. “Aww, he finally found a guy he likes more than knives. That’s so sweet.”   
“And not just any knife.” Shiro grinned.   
Keith put up his middle fingers at them. “Shut up you guys, or I’m taking the knife.”   
Allura reflexively held the knife away as Keith climbed into the pod. He launched the pod, and everyone stepped back. Keith piloted it towards the lush planet below, setting down near an urban area. Actually, Keith landed pretty much in the middle of the town, almost wrecking the fountain.

He emerged from the pod, dragging Sendak as best he could. “Help, somebody help!”   
A Galra ran forward, dropping a basket filled with food. “Sendak? Sendak!”   
She took him from Keith. She stood roughly as tall as Sendak, with a large braid of purple fur down her back, and a simple dress. “Sendak, wake up…”   
“He should just be sedated.” Keith breathed. “I got him out before they could do anything to him.”

The Galra smiled at him. “Thank you, young man. What family do you belong to?”   
“I… I… I’m a hybrid, I was born off-world.” Keith said.   
The Galra woman shrugged. “You still have a Galra parent, right?”

“I never met them.” Keith replied.   
The Galra woman clicked her tongue. “We’ll run a DNA test, it’s simple.” She picked up Sendak bridal style effortlessly. “Collect your things, and do you mind gathering my purchases?”   
“Uh… sure.” Keith said. He jumped back into the pod and grabbed his bag, then returned to gather her fallen food. He raced after her. “What about the pod?”   
“Oh, the city council will clean that up.” The Galra lady shrugged. “I don’t believe I’ve caught your name.”

“Oh, it’s Keith.”   
“Keet?” The Galra tried.   
“…close enough.” Keith shrugged. “What’s your name?”   
“I am Alrya, of house Emblar.” The Galra replied. “This is my husband, Sendak, also of house Emblar. I took his family name when I married him.”

Keith nodded slowly. “Um… have you lived here long?”   
Alrya laughed. “Keet, you are hilarious. Most Galra never leave Galaris, and it is very rare that they leave their towns.”   
“Really? But the military is everywhere.” Keith spread his arms, accidentally sending the food flying. He stopped to gather them as Alrya chuckled.   
“Ah, the military… honestly, some would say that the resources would better be put to use here.” She nodded at their surroundings. “What do you see?”   
“Uh…” Keith looked around. It was an idyllic countryside scene. “Fields? There are some trees over there.”

“Countryside, an incredibly rural area. It’s like this all over.” Alrya sighed. “Meanwhile Zarkon and his witch steal our people and send them to the war.”   
“I… I actually kind of like the royal family.” Keith shrugged.   
Alrya smiled bitterly. “Of course, you’re still young. You believe all those posters across town about the glory of the Empire. My only consolation is that my husband doesn’t have to return, apparently he’s been dishonorably discharged.”

Keith glanced at Sendak, who was still out cold. “Wow.”   
Alrya grimaced. Soon enough they reached her house. Sendak’s house was fairly open, with several windows overlooking the nearby countryside, and a large tiled patio. Keith could vaguely hear a child laughing nearby. Alrya set Sendak down on a couch inside the house, and then left the room. She returned with a strange device, and then she motioned for Keith to hold out his hand. He did so, and then felt something prick his hand.

“Ow! What the hell!” He hissed.   
“Stop being a baby.” Alrya ordered. “I’ll just plug this in and find out who you are.”   
Keith stared at the device, and watched Alrya plug it into what was essentially a computer. Within a few clicks of her keyboard, an image of Keith popped up. Out of the top of the image came a red line, and a picture of a female Galra appeared there, which then connected to Sendak. The line continued two ways—creating a dotted line next to a picture of Alrya, and then connecting down to a picture of an adorable Galra child with a snaggletooth, and going on above, showing Sendak and his sister’s parents and grandparents. Alrya turned back to Keith as the lines continued. “How fortuitous that fate would drop you into our laps. Welcome home, nephew.”

On board the ship, right after Keith had left, Allura turned to Kurok. “We’re over Galaris—if you want to leave now, you’re welcome to do so.” No one missed how her grip tightened on Keith’s knife.   
“If it’s all the same to you, I’d like to stay.” Kurok said softly, taking a step back.   
Allura inhaled sharply, but nodded anyway. “If that is your decision. However, it cannot be reversed.”   
Kurok shrugged. “I’m happy here, serving you and the paladins.”

“Speaking of which,” Pidge interjected. “We need a Blue Paladin and a Red Paladin.”   
Allura snapped out of her rage. “I can pilot either of them, and Coran can pilot the other.”   
“Okay, can we just check on that?” Hunk asked. “It’s not that I don’t trust you, it’s just that I don’t want to leave this to an emergency.”   
Allura nodded. “Sure.” They proceeded to the Blue Lion’s hangar. Allura stepped forward, and Blue immediately slammed down her particle barrier.

Allura looked up. “Listen, I know you’re upset about Lance, but we could need to form Voltron.”   
Blue kept her shield up. Allura sighed and stepped back, and the shield came down. Allura glared at Blue, while Coran stepped forward. Blue stood, but didn’t raise her shield. Allura shot Blue another dirty look, before sighing. “At least we have a temporary replacement for her. I’m going to go check Red.”   
“Didn’t you say Red is the hardest to bond with?” Pidge asked.   
Allura shrugged. “I have a bond with Red. It’s partially the link to her that I have with most of the lions, but still.”

Red, at least, _was_ willing to let Allura in, so the other paladins let the matter drop, except Shiro. “Do you know how to fly her?”   
Allura bit her lip. “I saw my father do it several times, it should be fine.”   
“Red’s the hardest lion to handle.” Shiro looked up at her. “She’s also the most precise and agile. Do you want me up there with you when you test her out?”   
“Test her out… now?” Allura asked.   
“Well, maybe not now because of the Galra, but—”   
“No, this is perfect. There are very few military ships here.” Allura took Shiro’s wrist. “Let’s go!”   
“Whoa whoa whoa I meant I could help you from Black…” Shiro trailed off.

Allura shook her head. “No, that would not help. I confess, I know very little about how to actually fly the lions.”   
“That’s not a shock…” Shiro began, before sighing. “Alright, in we go.”   
Red let out a rasping noise, and Allura frowned in concentration.   
“Is she fit to fly?” Shiro asked.

“How do I know that sound…? What? Oh, yes, she should be fine.” Allura said distractedly. “Come on.” She moved her hand down so that it was holding his hand, not his wrist. They walked up into Red’s cockpit, and Allura sat down in the chair. She was immediately rocketed forward to the console, and Shiro felt Red stand up. He walked over and stood behind her. “You’re doing great, Allura. Now ease her out of the hangar…”

Red slowly walked out of her hangar. Suddenly they noticed movement in their peripheral vision, and Shiro saw that Blue had moved to the door of her hangar so that she was watching them, tail moving around slowly indicating her interest.   
“Is that… Coran?” Shiro asked.   
Allura shook her head. “No, I don’t think so. I think that’s just Blue.”   
Blue didn’t impede them, but continued to try to watch them as they reached the end of the hangar and launched Red.

Shiro grinned. “You’re doing great, Allura! Hang left around Galaris—” Shiro was cut off by a beeping noise. Video feed, which continuously enhanced until they could see two people, showed up on the monitor.   
“Guess Keith’s doing well.” Shiro said.   
Red began nosing them towards the planet, and Allura quickly pulled back. “We can’t be seen!”

Red retreated, but she was clearly unhappy about leaving Keith behind.   
“So… you said that Red is the hardest lion to bond with.” Shiro began. “How’d you get her to open up so quickly?”   
“She was my father’s lion—what are you doing?” This last part was directed at Red, who had begun plastering baby pictures of Allura to her monitor. Lance featured prominently in them as Allura grew older, but Red stopped when Allura was around five. However, the actual monitor was buried under the files Red had pulled up.

Allura groaned, and Red gave that rasping noise again.   
“Is she… laughing?” Shiro asked, coming around the side of the seat.   
Allura sighed. “Probably. Father always said that Red was the most sentimental lion. That’s probably the only reason she let me in.”   
“Don’t put yourself down, your piloting is actually great for a beginner.” Shiro smiled at Allura. “You won’t slow Voltron down, and Red knows how important this all is.”

Red suddenly lurched to the side, knocking Shiro into Allura.   
“Ow…” Shiro hissed.   
“Are you alright?” Allura asked in alarm.   
“Yeah, I’ll be fine. I think I just knocked my head against the armrest.” Shiro retreated to his previous position. “Sorry, Allura. Did I crush you?”   
“Not at all—Alteans are very strong.” Allura said. “I believe we should return though. Coran needs to take a look at Red’s mechanics.”   
Red lurched again, though it was smaller this time. Shiro kept his footing.   
“Are we under attack?” Shiro asked as Allura cleared the baby pictures.   
“No…” Allura frowned in concentration. “I don’t _think_ so… and Keith didn’t report any damage to Red recently.”   
“Coran definitely needs to take a look at Red.” Shiro said, looking around. They headed back, and Red let out a large exhale of air.

“Uh… what was that?” Shiro asked. “Is she breaking?”   
Allura frowned at the console. “She’s not… she has no warnings up.”   
They made it back to the hangar without further incident, and exited Red. The other lions had gathered around, and Shiro rubbed his chin in thought. “I wish Lance was here to translate.”

  
“…yes…” Allura said, pointedly not looking at the other lions.  
“Unless… do you know what’s up with Red?” Shiro asked. “It might help Coran a lot.”   
Allura bit her lip. “I didn’t spend the same amount of time Lance did with the lions—Grandfather used to take Lance in here when he was bonding with Black, and Lance would go talk to the others. But… Red does feel strangely… morose.”

Red _was_ morose. She had wanted Keith’s brother and Alfor’s daughter to finally stop dancing around one another—well, Keith’s brother was doing more dancing, Alfor’s daughter liked him but she was busy all the time—and do the kiss thing that Keith and Alfor’s son liked to do. Also, she missed Keith a _lot_.

Blue rolled her eyes, and reminded her sister that Keith was _fine_. He had volunteered for this, after all. Meanwhile, her Lance was _missing_ and Black’s stupid paladin’s son Lotor probably had him. Blue had never liked Lotor. He had always seemed rather slimy, and had been rude to her paladin when Hreth had tried to reach out, even before Elcmanus. If he was still alive, he was probably a rude and bitter old man.

Black told them both to shut up, and that both of their paladins were likely fine. It wasn’t a competition, and it was only temporary, so they should stop playing around with the Queen and get down to business.   
At that, both Blue and Red retreated into their hangars, quietly arguing telepathically until Black shouted at them again. Green and Yellow wisely stayed out of it, simply thankful that they still had their paladins.

On Galaris, Sendak awoke with a start. He looked around in confusion, seeing the rolling fields of home instead of… the bridge? The last thing that he remembered was Voltron and the _Na’dir_ , but… how did he get here?   
A small noise drew his attention, and he turned his head sharply to see Alrya sitting at the kitchen table, peeling a root vegetable. “Good, you’re awake. I missed you.”

“Am I dead?” Sendak replied. “Is this heaven? Do—did I deserve heaven?”   
“No, no, and I don’t know.” Alrya shot him a small smile. “This is home. I sent the boys to go get the blacksmith to fashion you a new prosthetic, so it’s just us.”   
Sendak slowly sat up fully. “Boys? As in more than one? Did you have a kit while I was gone?”   
Alrya snorted. “No, I haven’t. Lan and Lot have been kind to us—Kara apparently had a hybrid son.”

Sendak nearly fell back onto the couch. “ _Kara_? Kara is back?”   
“No, just her son.” Alrya replied. “I sent him out with Battin, like I said.”   
Sendak’s ears twitched, hearing his son’s laughter grow louder. “Do you trust this boy?”   
“He’s family, Sendak. And he brought you home, even if he didn’t know he’s Kara’s son. He’s a good boy.” Alrya said stubbornly. “Even if he _does_ like the military too easily.”

“He is of House Emblar.” Sendak said dismissively as their son, squealing with laughter, came into the room on the back of a young man just grown. The blacksmith followed sedately. “Good to see you back, Sendak.”   
“Good to be back.” Sendak grunted. The blacksmith withdrew a measuring tape and began taking measurements of Sendak’s remaining arm.

Sendak kept his eye on the supposed nephew. He did bear a startling resemblance to Kara, including having her absurdly long haircut. He even seemed a bit familiar, though if they were trapped together as prisoners that explained that. “Boy, what is your name?”   
“Keith.” The boy had let Battin down to the floor, where he immediately ran to Sendak. “I can leave—”

“You’ll do no such thing, Keet.” Alrya said, glaring at her husband. Sendak huffed, and the blacksmith moved away. “All done. I’ll have your prosthetic ready soon, Sendak.”   
Sendak waved him off. “I’m in no hurry.”   
The blacksmith shrugged. “Pay me when you get it, then.” He left as soon as he’d come, and Sendak turned back to the Boy. “Keet, is it? Short for Keet’ahn?”

“Well, okay, see my father was human, so I have the Earth name _Keith_.” The boy said.   
Sendak rolled his good eye. “Don’t talk nonsense. You are Kara’s son, and therefore she likely named you after our father, Keet’ahn the Sixth. He was a formidable warrior with the sword, and an excellent gardener, and taught Kara both. Your Earth father must have misheard.”  
“…Right.” Keet’ahn (or Keith, as he _insisted_ ) said, implying that he was humoring Sendak.

Sendak frowned at him, but moved onto the next issue. “My wife tells me that you rescued me from Voltron. I don’t doubt that part, but how did _you_ come to be there?”   
“80% of the paladins are from Earth, I got pulled into this alongside them.” Keith replied. “I couldn’t let you be kept there like that, so I took you and a pod and…” Here he shrugged.

Sendak glared at him, knowing the boy hadn’t lied. “And you didn’t know that your mother was my sister?”   
“I never met my birth parents.” Keith replied. “I was adopted.”   
“What is ‘adopted’?” Battin asked, finally interjecting himself into the conversation yet still clutching Sendak’s leg.  
“My birth parents couldn’t raise me, or they’re dead or something, so I was given to the care of other people.” Keith said.   
“Ah, you were stolen.” Alrya looked sorrowful.   
“No, I was… I was left behind. My dad—the one who raised me—found me.” Keith said, hugging himself.

Alrya looked at Sendak, who shrugged. “Clearly, your human father abandoned you.” He said.   
“Phrasing!” Alrya hissed.   
Sendak sighed. “I know this because the Galra would never leave a child behind. Your mother would never have left you willingly.”   
“Is there a chance she’s still alive?” Keith asked.  
“No.” Sendak said brusquely.   
Alrya glared at him.

“When’s dinner?” Sendak asked.   
Alrya smacked her hand to her face, then delicately pinched the bridge of her nose. With her free hand, she waved towards the door. “Keet, go take Battin out. There is a practice dummy in the yard if you want to use it, and we have a variety of training weapons.”  
“Uh… sure.” Keith said, scooping up Battin.   
Alrya turned to glare at Sendak.   
“I think that all went well.” Sendak replied almost cheerfully. “He definitely reminds me of Kara.”   
“Are you _really_ this obtuse?” Alrya demanded.

“…is this about my phrasing again? Or the fact that I told him Kara’s dead? Because Alrya, there is every likelihood that she is long dead. We’re all used to it, he should get used to it as well.”   
“He’s a boy!” Alrya growled.   
“He’s an adult.” Sendak said dismissively. “And encouraging foolish ideas will get him nowhere. You said he has an interest in the military?”

“I thought you said encouraging foolish ideas would get him nowhere?” Alrya replied sweetly, before dropping the façade. “That is a nice boy out there, Sendak. He is the only thing left of your sister, please don’t let him be destroyed. Be the uncle you couldn’t be for most of his life.”   
“A dishonorable discharge means that a family member will need to be in the military for you.” Sendak replied. “Battin is too young and you despise the military. Lan and Lot have given us a great boon with Keet’ahn so far, why not another one? We’re not attached to him in any way, and he loves Zarkon.”   
Alrya glared at Sendak. “If that boy dies out there, we’re going to have his body shipped back here and buried next to your father. Full mourning for a year.”   
“Alrya, be reasonable.” Sendak sighed. “We barely know him.”   
“We know he’s family. We know you’re going to use him to cover yourself.” Alrya glared at her husband and dropped the peeled root into a pot of water.

Less than a week later, Keith shifted uneasily in front of the recruiter as his name was marked down. Sendak had accompanied him, and was standing stoically. Apparently he still didn’t remember Keith from Voltron, which was honestly great. Alrya had done her best to make Keith feel welcome, and Battin was adorable, but Keith still felt vaguely like Sendak hated him.

Sendak, for his part, actually quite liked Keith. He was living up to his namesake and was an excellent sword-fighter, something he made sure to tell the recruiter.   
The recruiter looked at their pad. “Well… normally you’d be sent to training, but you really think this boy has promise, Sendak?”   
“Of course.” Sendak said. “He reminds me of myself when I entered the military—I’ve seen him myself. He has a ferocity that is entirely Galran.”  
Keith flinched almost imperceptibly, but the recruiter raised an eyebrow at him. “Indeed? And you say he’s a hybrid? Of what?”   
“Human, the same species of the Champion.” Sendak replied. Keith squinted up at him. Was he… proud of Keith? It was hard to tell.

The recruiter nodded and stamped Keith’s papers. “If you really think he’s that good, there’s an opportunity coming up this afternoon. Zarkon’s grandson apparently needs bodyguards.”  
Sendak frowned in concentration. “Queen Idras of Altea’s son?”   
“The very same.” The recruiter said.   
“Wasn’t he… with Voltron?” Sendak asked.  
The recruiter looked at him quizzically. “No, I don’t believe so.”   
Sendak nodded slowly, then clapped Keith on the back. “Well Keet’ahn, here we part ways. Bring pride to the family.”   
Keith nodded back. “Goodbye, Sendak.”

Sendak turned and walked away, and the recruiter crossed their arms, looking Keith over. “Well, you definitely resemble Kara. And the house of Emblar isn’t known for its displays of sentimentality… did you happen to inherit a knife from Kara?”   
“You mean her Blade of Marmora—”   
The recruiter hushed Keith. “Not so loud! So, you know its significance. Are you willing to work for us?”  
“You… you’re Blade?” Keith asked.   
The recruiter nodded, eyes darting around the town square. No one had noticed.   
“Yeah, of course.” Keith leaned in. “I’m with Voltron, I’m here to get the Prince back.”

“You’ll definitely get the bodyguard job.” The recruiter nodded. “Are you really as proficient with a knife as Sendak says?”  
“Yeah. At least, I think so. Plus, my parents—the people who raised me, not Kara and her husband—paid for fencing since junior high so I have that at least.”   
The Blade recruiter nodded. “I don’t know what that means, but come—we have little time.”   
Keith followed the recruiter into a building behind their stand, up several flights of stairs to the roof. It was shaded under an awning, and several teams of Galra were fighting.

“Commander.” The recruiter called. A huge Galra came over, tail swishing behind them.   
“What is it?” The commander asked.   
“Commander Hyna, this is Keet’ahn of House Emblar, nephew of ex-Commander Sendak. He has shown great promise and great loyalty, and I would like him to be considered alongside the others for the great honour of being Prince Allances’ bodyguard.” The recruiter said smoothly.

Commander Hyna threw back her head and laughed. “He’ll have to be quite good.”   
“He is.” The recruiter said hurriedly. “He is a hybrid of the same species the Champion came from, and has practiced ‘fencing’. He and his uncle have both assured me he is quite good with knives.”   
“Let’s see then.” Hyna said. She nodded towards the weapons racks, and Keith moved towards them. He selected a sword similar to his bayard, weighing the balance and deciding it was good.

“Tetrok!” Hyna called.   
A Galra soldier about the size and shape of a sentry (Keith squinted at him to make sure it wasn’t just a sentry they’d painted to look like a Galra) came over. “Commander?”   
“Test this new recruit. First blood wins.” Hyna said.

Tetrok drew his own sword, and he and Keith began to circle one another. Tetrok swung first, and Keith nearly got hit, ducking quickly. While still low, he swung at Tetrok’s knees, then popped back up. Tetrok didn’t have a scratch on him, but he was watching Keith more warily. Keith slashed at Tetrok’s shoulder, which he blocked quickly, before Keith quickly pulled his sword back and used it to block a shot. Tetrok continued to push down on Keith, trying to use superior strength to push Keith’s sword against him, but Keith used his sword to twist Tetrok’s sword out of his grasp. It went skittering across the floor, and Keith lunged for Tetrok, scratching his hand.

Commander Hyna and the recruiter looked impressed, and Keith noticed that a few other recruits were watching.  
“Guess you’re not the best anymore.” A Galra from the crowd grinned at Tetrok, who stuck out his tongue  
Keith offered Tetrok his hand, and Tetrok smiled and took it. “Good match.”   
“Good match.” Keith repeated. So far the Galra were actually pretty good sports.   
“And anyway Jlipnok, I was never _the best_.” Tetrok said to the Galra who had spoken out.   
“Aw, Tetrok. You’ll always be the best to me.” Jlipnok said, nuzzling his nose against Tetrok’s.

“Alright, enough public affection.” Hyna interjected. “Keet’ahn, welcome to the elite forces. Very soon, Prince Lotor and his nephew will be here, and they will choose bodyguards for Prince Allances.”  
The recruiter tugged on her sleeve. “Commander? I think they’re here.”

Everyone turned to the doorway, where Lance in his true form and a taller man with long white hair and purple skin were standing.   
Lance grinned. “Aw, I know I’m handsome, but you don’t have to stare.”   
The other man rolled his eyes fondly.   
Keith drank in the sight of Lance. He was dressed in the space equivalent of silk, in royal blue and white. “Lance…” He breathed.   
Lance’s ears twitched, and he turned to look at Keith. The smile didn’t quite fade from his face, but he did look perplexed. “Do I… know you?”

“Um, no. Sorry, Your Majesty.” Keith coughed.   
Lance stepped closer. “No, I swear I know you.”   
“I don’t see how, unless you’ve been to Earth recently.” Keith shrugged.   
Lance shrugged. “Then I know someone who reminds me of you. What’s your name?”   
“Keith, but everyone’s been telling me that my name is actually Keet’ahn of house Emblar.” Keith said, trying to hide his nervousness.

Lance frowned in concentration. “Keith, Keith… that sounds… _right_.” Almost subconsciously, he reached forward and brushed Keith’s hair out of his eyes. Lance gave Keith a little smile. “Your hair is really, really long for a soldier.”   
“I just joined today.”   
“I didn’t say I didn’t like it.” Lance laughed. “It suits you.”   
Keith’s ears stood straight up. “Do-do you do this with everyone?”   
Lance winked. “No, you’re just cute.”

Lotor had been watching all of this closely (well, everyone really had been). Lance had been flirting with people, sure, but never to this extent. Coupled with the fact that he seemingly remembered this person, who was also reacting to Lance… the name really cemented the fact that this was, in fact, the Red Paladin, as mentioned in the video messages from the Green Paladin. Now, Lotor’s father might have whipped out the black bayard and killed the Red Paladin then and there, and his mother might have sedated him and used him in her experiments, but Lotor liked to think that he was cleverer than that. If he let things continue naturally, the paladin would be in his clutches at nearly all times, and would be none the wiser. He could kill the paladin anytime he wanted. And if the Paladin ‘accidentally’ bonded with Lance… well, he wouldn’t be going anywhere, and it could be… severed.

Commander Hyna walked up to Lotor while Lance and Keith were talking. “I assume you’ll be taking that soldier as a bodyguard?”   
“Well, how good is he?”   
“He literally just walked in and beat a fairly good swordsman.” Hyna replied.   
Lotor made a sound of interest. He was well aware that the Red Paladin was likely a ferocious warrior who would protect Allances at any cost. “All the same, is there anyone else that you would recommend?”

“Tetrok and Jlipnok are an excellent swordsman and marksman.” Hyna said. “And they are a mated pair, so they can’t be separated.”   
Lotor’s face lit up. A bargaining chip in case the Paladin won either over. “Perfect. Our ship leaves at 2100 tonight, don’t let any of the three be late. Allances?”   
Lance stepped back from Keith slightly. “Yes, Uncle?”  
“Time to get back to the ship.” Lotor said.   
“S-so soon?” Lance laughed, eyes flicking to Keith.   
Lotor frowned. This had gone farther than he had thought. Had they already bonded without his knowledge…? No, no, that was impossible. Mother would have known.

“Yes.” Lotor said smoothly. “It’s quite dangerous out here, and your new bodyguards need time to pack, yes? Don’t worry, on our way back you can buy some trinket. Commander, you’re in charge here.”   
He swept out of the room, and Lance predictably followed. “Did you… did you choose Keith?” Lance tried to be casual.

Lotor stopped suddenly. “Allances, what draws you to that boy?”   
“I don’t know.” Lance answered. “Um… he’s my age? He’s very good-looking.”   
“He is as awkward as a newborn yelmor and has terrible hair.” Lotor replied as they swept down the stairs. Then he stopped suddenly, pulling a concerned look onto his face. “Allances, we’re princes. We may not be able to marry for love. Don’t get too attached.” Lance looked suitably chastised, and Lotor smiled, continuing, “you’re a good boy Allances.”

However, Lotor didn’t trust the Red Paladin to not try to reform his relationship with Allances, despite the lack of decorum. He _did_ trust that a forbidden romance would only be more salacious to the impressionable Allances, and that should Lance make the poor decision of bonding with this ‘Keith’, then he would be able to swoop in and manipulate the situation.


	13. Lotor is still an asshat, even if he has a sympathetic backstory or whatever

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Apologies if your name is Sven.

Lance looked around as they exited the building. The town was fairly small, with a fountain (and an Altean escape pod?) in the center, ringed by various buildings. It was charming, but it was hardly the grand capitol he had imagined.   
“Why are we here, Uncle?” Lance asked. “Why not a larger city like Lancelspire?”   
Lotor froze. “It’s… complicated, Allances. I’ve told you. Haven’t you been listening?”

“Of course I have, but huge cities don’t just disappear!” Lance said, gesturing to the town around them.   
Lotor sighed, holding up a hand to stop the sentries tasked with escorting them. He turned back to his nephew, smiling gently. “Lance, don’t you trust me?”   
“Yes, but—”   
“But nothing. I would never lie to you, Lance. I would never hide things from you unless I truly believed that you did not need to know them.” Lotor smiled again. “You’re a special boy, Lance. Charming, intelligent, handsome, everything I was and aspired to be when I was your age. You’re irreplaceable.”

Lance blinked rapidly. “I… we weren’t talking about that.”   
“It’s true though.” Lotor grinned. He was well aware of Lance’s self-esteem issues, and while he didn’t necessarily approve, he still prepared for trouble. He loved Lance, as much as he could love anything, but just in case Lance ever reverted to his previous self and realized that Lotor was lying, he’d spiral into depression, connecting what Lotor had said to bolster his self-esteem with the fact that Lotor was a liar. It was all somewhat complicated, and probably extremely paranoid. Lotor didn’t exactly care though.

“Don’t think you can throw me off.” Lance grinned as they began moving again. “I’m not done with my questions.”   
Lotor smiled back, feeling that Lance’s joviality was infectious. “I’m not done with my evasions, but go ahead if you like. Or, would you prefer to talk about your flirting with Keet’ahn of house Emblar?”   
Lance laughed, but a blush spread across his cheeks. “Was it that obvious?”

“Yes, but I think Keet’ahn likes you too.” Lotor winked at Lance. “Come, I promised you a trinket.”   
“Why?” Lance asked.   
“It’s your birthday soon—19 decafeebs is a big number.” Lotor smiled. “We can start marriage talks.”   
“Wha… I mean, _you_ never married.” Lance pointed out.

Lotor shrugged. “And _that_ is an issue for another time. Come, Allances. What about a rifle—you’re quite a talented marksman.”   
Lance narrowed his eyes. “Mother was better.”   
“That doesn’t mean you’re not good as well.” Lotor ruffled his nephew’s hair. “Come.” Lance obediently followed him into a nearby weapons shop. Lotor quite liked this—he could dote on his adorable nephew while maintaining control and diverting Lance from awkward questions.

Meanwhile, Commander Hyna had allowed Keith and the others to go home to gather their things as they were technically no longer under her jurisdiction. Keith more or less let himself in, heading directly into the guest room and gathering his stuff. He looked the room over one more time, before exiting and coming face to face with Alrya.

“Wh—how did you know I was here?” Keith asked.   
“I didn’t.” Alrya replied smoothly. “I heard a noise and assumed you were a robber. What are you doing, Keet?”   
“I’m shipping out tonight.” Keith replied.   
“You got kicked out of the army already?” Alrya asked, cocking her head slightly.

“No, I was assigned to be a bodyguard for Prince Allances.” Keith replied.   
“A great honour.” Alrya said, though she looked at him quizzically. “How do you know enough about Galra culture to know that?”   
“Culture? I’m doing this for Lance.” Keith blurted out. Alrya relaxed. “Sendak told me the Prince piloted the Blue Lion recently. It’s one of the only things that he remembers. Keet’ahn, did you grow close to him as a prisoner?”   
“What, you mean like Stockholm syndrome?” Keith asked.

“I do not know what that means.” Alrya replied.   
“On Earth, there’s a phenomenon where when someone is captured, they sometimes feel affection for their captor.” Keith explained. “But I’m telling you—I don’t have Stockholm Syndrome for Lance.”   
“Because you’re the Red Paladin?” Alrya said quietly.   
Keith jolted backwards. “N-no… how did you--?”   
“I guessed. For someone who claims to love Zarkon, you don’t really seem that patriotic. Then there was the matter of how you got on Voltron’s ship in the first place and how you escaped with my husband. The kicker was when I heard you and the military recruiter today. You’re lucky I was the only one.”

Keith’s blood froze. “Are you going to tell Sendak?”   
Alrya scoffed. “Of course not, it would break his heart that his nephew was fighting the Empire, just like it would break his heart to know that his sister was with the Blade of Marmora.”   
“How did you know _that_?” Keith asked.   
Alrya raised an eyebrow. “Keet’ahn, did you believe that you had inherited your terrible lying and lack of subtlety from your father? I caught Kara just as I caught you.”

“So what are you going to do?” Keith asked warily.   
Alrya sighed. “I’m going to see you to town, hug you goodbye, and hope that you return to us safely. It hasn’t been long, but you have a home here, Keet. You’re family. And I pray that whenever this is over, _however_ it is over, you will come back and let us be a part of your life.”   
“I have a family on Earth.” Keith protested.   
Alrya fixed him with an annoyed look. “You also have a ship capable of traversing the galaxy. Figure it out—you’re as obtuse as your uncle, I _swear_ …”

Keith cracked a small smile. “I guess it wouldn’t be so bad to check up on you guys from time to time…”   
Alrya smiled back, and squeezed his shoulder. “Say goodbye formally for Battin’s sake, and have some dinner before you go.”   
Dinner was a quiet affair, and Keith kept glancing at Sendak, whose face was incredibly hard to read. Battin didn’t really seem to understand where Keith was going, but he made it known that he was upset that someone else was leaving so soon after he had gotten his father back. At last, it was time for Keith to go. He walked into town, then walked to the ship. A sentry assigned him a room next to Lance’s, and a keycard for his identity, then left him alone.

Keith sat down on his bed, unsure of what to do.   
His door slid open, effectively freeing him from having to find out.   
“Keith!” Lance grinned. “We’re about to lift off, come on!”   
“Where are we going?” Keith asked.

“The observation deck.” Lance replied.   
“No, I mean, the ship.”   
“Oh, we’re rejoining Grandmother and Grandfather in the main fleet.” Lance sent Keith a grin as he pulled him along. “I haven’t gotten to see Grandfather yet, but I can’t wait.”   
“Why are you taking me?” Keith asked.

Lance looked back at him and grinned slyly. “I need a bodyguard if I go anywhere—at least according to Uncle Lotor. _You_ are a bodyguard.”   
“Yeah, but what about the other two?” Keith asked.   
“They’re welcome to join us if they can find us.” Lance replied flippantly. “And I think between the two of us, we’re more than capable of keeping me safe. Voltron isn’t going to send spies into my bedroom.”

Keith’s ears stood straight up. “B-bedroom? Wh-why would Voltron be in your bedroom? Do _I_ need to be in your bedroom?”   
Lance laughed. “No, you don’t. I just think Uncle Lotor is being paranoid—Voltron is millions of miles away.” His face became shuttered. “Allura is the one in danger, not me.”   
“How do you know she’s in danger?” Keith asked.

“Voltron has her.” Lance said, glaring at the floor.   
“Lance, Lance, look at me.” Keith said. Lance looked at Keith, and noticed how his eyes were white with purple irises instead of solid gold. Curious, but beautiful.   
“Lance, Voltron is not going to hurt your sister.” Keith said firmly. “She means too much to them.”   
“How do you know that?” Lance demanded. “What if she tried to escape, and got hurt in the process?”

“Because I was on their ship.” Keith shot back. “That’s how I rescued _my_ uncle, Sendak from them. I saw all of them, and not a single paladin on there was interested in harming Queen Allura.”   
“Queen?” Lance asked. “Queen of what?”   
“Altea.” Keith shrugged.   
Lance frowned. “That’s impossible. She would need an Altean noble to crown her.”

Keith shrugged again.   
“Things aren’t adding up…” Lance muttered, almost to himself. The ship jolted under their feet, but Lance didn’t seem to notice. “I’m closer to my 19th decafeebs… Allura is Queen of Altea… Voltron has been able to reform but I can still feel Blue in the back of my mind… feeling like I know you…” He turned and sniffed Keith suspiciously.   
Keith gently pushed him away and held Lance at arms’ length. “Okay, on Earth that is a _super_ weird thing to do with someone you don’t know.”

Lance moved back, and circled Keith. “But that’s just it, isn’t it? I _do_ know you, Keith.”   
“Well, maybe from your dreams!” Keith blurted out.   
“What?” Lance said, taken aback.   
“Agh, it’s nothing… there’s this old Earth story. There is this girl, and she’s singing by herself in the woods. This guy comes along and starts dancing with her, and says that he’s not a stranger, because they’ve met in her dreams.” Keith said, glancing off to the side. “It’s stupid.”

“It sounds… sweet. Was it true?” Lance asked.   
“Well, they’d really met years and years before, when she was a baby, but I guess?” Keith shrugged again.   
“Do you really think we’ve met in our dreams?” Lance asked softly, almost but not quite teasing Keith.   
“I definitely think we’ve met before, somehow.” Keith said firmly, finally meeting Lance’s eyes. “It’s up to you on how, exactly. You’re the prince after all.”

Lance chuckled. “You’re the first person to think of it _that_ way. But sure, let’s go with meeting in our dreams, it makes my head hurt less, and gives me a reason to be so familiar with you.”   
“Well, I don’t _mind_ you being familiar… though why did you sniff me?” Keith asked.   
“I was checking to see if you’d covered yourself in pheromones.” Lance replied flippantly, before grinning. “I knew it couldn’t be your hair that attracted me to you.”

“You said you liked it!” Keith squawked, but he couldn’t hold back a grin of his own.   
Lance laughed. “It’s charming. In its own way.”   
Keith rolled his eyes. “You’re lucky you’re a prince.”   
Laughing, they continued on their way, teasing each other gently.

Sequestered in his room, Lotor took another chug from the bottle of nunvil. Lance’s question about why he’d never married had shaken him to his very core—not because he regretted never marrying, but because Lotor had, in fact, been married for a short amount of time.

It hadn’t been a royal wedding, Lance would have known. It was a small, almost unexpected bonding. She had been the daughter of a minor Altean nobleman, and who would say no to a prince for a son in law? He had intended to tell his parents, but then Elcmanus happened and his father… changed. He was still caught by surprise when Altea burned though, along with his wife and unborn child.

In the present, he drank deeply from the bottle again. In the past, losing his wife, his bondmate, had burned through him. He thought he would die from the pain of it. The druids had to sedate him to keep him from screaming in agony—he had naively thought, when he awoke, that there had only been a complication with the baby. He could handle losing the baby, he couldn’t handle losing his wife.

He didn’t like to think about what she’d think of him now. She wouldn’t understand. He _did_ like to think about what would have happened if she had never died, especially when he was incredibly drunk like this. He tortured himself with millions of ‘what-if’ scenarios, wherein she always survived and loved him until the end of time. They always had more children, the first one usually survived as well. Once or twice he imagined Allances and Allura playing with these imaginary children, hoisting them on their shoulders and singing songs. He usually didn’t like to think about Allances and Allura either, though.

It was different now. Now, he had Lance back—the Lance before the war, before Elcmanus. After ten thousand years of being trapped with people who hated him, Lotor craved the earnest affection from a family member unaffected by his mother’s stupid ‘ultimate’ (read: corrupted) quintessence that had made them all monsters.

On the castle side of things, the team had rescued the Olkari planet from Galra domination. Pidge had unlocked her tree powers and learned a tidy lesson about nature. It had gone better than anyone had expected, since Allura had assessed the situation with Lubos and grabbed him before he could raise the alarm.

“Don’t you know who I am?” Lubos had thundered. “Wait until the Galra find out about this—you’ll be sorry! I have friends in high places!”   
Allura had played the recording for the Olkari, thus assuring them of Lubos’ guilt without holding a knife to his throat. That would have been crazy. All in all, it was handled well.

Well enough actually that Shiro came off of it with an adrenaline high, and when the lions landed and Allura exited Red, Shiro on the spur of the moment swept her up into a kiss. Then he realized what he was doing. His eyes snapped wide open, and he dropped her gently. “Oh my god.”   
“Is this normal mating behavior for your species?” Reyner muttered to Pidge.   
“Don’t ask me.” Pidge shrugged. “It’d be _way_ worse if Lance and Keith were here.”

“Lance and Keith?”   
“Their respective brothers.” Pidge nodded towards Shiro and Allura. “And the presidents of the PDA club.”   
Reyner gave Pidge a questioning look, and Pidge sighed. “Come on, I’ll explain it while I work on Green. I get the feeling you’re going to have more questions.”   
“Of course, Green Paladin. Your culture is _fascinating_.”

Shiro, meanwhile, was staring at Allura, and had taken a step back, ready to bolt.   
“Why do you look like you’re about to run?” Allura asked. “Are the Galra here? Are we under attack? Should I call back Hunk and Pidge?”   
“No no no, I just… I’m sorry.” Shiro said.   
Allura frowned. “What for?”

“Kissing you? Without your consent?”   
Allura smiled. “You’re quite a gentleman, aren’t you? However, trust me—if I didn’t want you to touch me, you would not be conscious right now.”   
“Wait, you wanted me to kiss you?” Shiro asked, blinking owlishly.   
“Of course. I have for some time, but I didn’t want to force you into anything.”

Shiro opened and closed his mouth several times before deciding on what he wanted to say. “Can I… kiss you again?”   
“Of course.” Allura grinned, before pulling him into a kiss of her own.   
While they were otherwise distracted, Red shot Black a smug look. Black rolled her eyes, then went to check on Blue. No one noticed the small leftover drone overhead.

With the Galra, Lance and Lotor stepped off of the ship, guards trailing behind them. Here, Lance did not turn back to Keith.   
They proceeded directly to a council room, where Haggar and Zarkon were waiting. Various druids were stationed throughout the room, as well as several guards, both Galra and robots.

“Ah, Allances.” Haggar shot him a small smile, trying to seem friendly. “Good to see you.”   
Lance sat down at his place, and smiled back. “And you as well, Grandmother. Grandfather, how are you feeling?”   
Haggar elbowed Zarkon, and he looked away from the plans. “What? Oh, it’s you.”   
Lance’s face fell, and Haggar elbowed Zarkon again, harder this time.

“Father has recently had a problem with his quintessence.” Lotor said smoothly. “He still feels the effects of Elcmanus, and thus may not be the person you remember. That’s why it is so important that we get Voltron back.”   
“Well, one of the reasons.” Lance shrugged, turning to the meeting. Haggar pulled up pictures of the current paladins—mostly from security cameras, including the mall. Keith’s eyes widened—the mall cop’s office was covered in cameras, why hadn’t he realized?!

“The _false_ Black Paladin’s name is Takashi Shirogane.” Haggar spat, enlarging the picture of Shiro. Related images of Shiro appeared and swirled around it. “He is a bloodthirsty brute who has attacked his own teammates before, and has survived the arena solely because of his cruelty.”   
“I’m sorry, the arena?” Lance asked.   
Haggar and Lotor shared a look.

“Ye-es… the arena… it’s a completely voluntary way for fighters to earn money.” Lotor shrugged. “It’s often quite violent though—you know these brutish types. They never let the competitors leave alive.”   
Lance blinked rapidly. “That’s-that’s barbaric!”   
Lotor examined his fingernails. “They’re often criminals… it’s really just better that they remove themselves from the equation before good people get hurt.”   
Keith glared at the back of Lotor’s head, but didn’t say anything.

“If I may, Lotor?” Haggar said pointedly, before returning to the briefing. “He has shown cunning in getting the paladins to work together, and in the arena. He is, however, unmistakably violent.”   
She played a recording from a leftover drone on Olkarion. Allura removed her helmet, and Shiro pulled her into a rough kiss.   
Lance watched in horror.   
“Even though Prince Allances’ sister is a valuable bargaining chip and extremely powerful, the false Black Paladin has still overpowered her and this is only in public.” Haggar said. “We also know from this footage that the other paladins find no issue with Allura’s plight.”

She switched to an image of Pidge. “The Green Paladin’s name is still unclear, but we have been led to believe by breaches in our data that she is related to Matthew and Samuel Holt, the other humans we retrieved along with the false Black Paladin. Do not be fooled by the fact that she is a small child—she is close to the false Black Paladin, and we have received intelligence that she is just as cruel and bloodthirsty as he is. The difference is, she’s _incredibly_ smart.”

Keith leaned back. Honestly, Pidge would be laughing if she could hear this—she wasn’t willfully malicious, despite pushing ethical boundaries with the Galra. He was pretty sure that even that was mostly just testing _Shiro’s_ limits, and honestly he had been alongside her for most of what Haggar considered extraordinarily violent… that probably didn’t mean anything good for him.

Sure enough, Haggar pulled up his picture next. “The Red Paladin of Voltron is a reckless man who acts as the attack dog for the false Black Paladin. He will attack anything and everything without provocation, and is a good enough fighter that the false Black Paladin delegates tasks to him. In all honesty, I believe he is little more than a mongrel who needs to be put down, but he should still be a threat unless separated from the false Black Paladin. Oddly enough, he seems to have been replaced with Allura, likely under duress.”

Lance stared at the picture of Keith when he was human, then his eyes shifted to Keith across the room. He continued to switch back and forth, then frowned.   
“Something to share, Allances?” Lotor asked.   
“Um… the Red Paladin has an ugly haircut?” Lance tried, keeping his eyes on Keith. Keith shot him an annoyed glare. “In all seriousness, do we have any genetic material on the paladins yet?”

“In terms of weaknesses?” Lotor asked.   
“That too, but a genetic analysis might be helpful. It will give us a bigger picture of humans and their abilities, or if they’re… hybrids.” This last word was spoken very quietly. Keith’s heart began to pound.   
Lotor meanwhile shrugged again. “We have genetic data from the Champion—sorry Mother, the _false Black Paladin_ —but not the others. It’s unlikely they’re hybrids, no one has ever really heard of Earth before. The planet hasn’t even achieved standard warp.”

Lance relaxed. “Of course. Still, it might give us an edge to know their capabilities. They have to be similar to _something_ in the universe, after all. What about Yellow and Blue?”   
Haggar nodded and the picture changed to Hunk. “Little is known about the Yellow Paladin. He is large, but generally stays out of battles. He is often seen alongside the Green Paladin, and our intelligence suggests that he is quite smart himself. He is an enigma, do not underestimate him.”   
Keith was somewhat offended that the Galra basically got Hunk right when everyone else was painted as a bloodthirsty monster. However, it is hard to call the literal paladin of kindness a monster _so_ …

“And… the Blue Paladin?” Lance swallowed.   
“Right now, Voltron does not seem to have a permanent Blue Paladin. The advisor, Coran Hieronymus Wimbledon Smythe, seems to have taken its place.” Haggar replied.   
Lance leaned forward, interested. “He’s okay with my sister being… violated?”   
“I honestly never knew what was happening in that man’s head.” Lotor huffed. “He’s not important—the Champion is the real problem.”

“But we need a way to retrieve Black, Allura, and presumably Coran safely.” Lance replied. “Voltron’s no use to us if the lions are mangled. The fact that Red’s gone worries me.”   
“He’s alone, and he’s a terrible planner.” Haggar said.   
Lance frowned at the screens, then pulled up the image of Keith as a human. Nearby swirled the image of him holding a knife to Varkon’s throat. “We don’t know that—we’ve never caught him alone. He’s reckless, sure, but there are only so many reasons that they cut him loose. Either he’s helping them, or he’s so dangerous they cut him loose themselves. A lone paladin isn’t a large issue, but if it was important enough for him to be given a special mission, I’m worried we’re missing something.”

He looked up at the assembled Galra. “He’s gone to get a Blue Paladin.”   
“You think he’ll come for you?” Haggar said in surprise.   
Lance frowned. “Now, that’d be too much effort for a stranger, but I suppose... they could use Allura to get me to cooperate. It doesn’t make sense though… Blue is one of the easiest lions to pilot. For Lan’s sake, she chose _me_ out of everyone in the universe. It might be easier to try and replace me like they did with Grandfather. Actually, security should still be increased. Any bond with Blue or Black would be strengthened if Grandfather and I weren’t fighting them for the lions’ affections.”

“So we should kill the Black Paladin as soon as possible?” Zarkon finally spoke.   
Lance folded his hands under his chin. “Not much of this makes sense… I want to question him first. I want to look in his eyes myself and find out what kind of man could break my sister, and _then_ I want to kill him.”   
Zarkon nodded appreciatively. “And we kill the others.”

Lance looked uncertain, but shrugged. “I guess. We can’t allow them to keep Voltron, who knows what they’ll do?”   
Lotor cracked his neck. “So what should we do?”   
“My druids and I can use Zarkon’s connection to the Black Lion to find them.” Haggar said. “From there it’s just a matter of sending a robeast to dispatch them.”   
“Robeasts don’t work.” Lotor snapped. “For Lan’s sake, it’s been ten thousand years. How is the best technology we have easily defeated by a cripple, an enigma, a child, and two stand-ins?”

“What about my connection with Blue?” Lance said quietly. “I know it’s not as strong as Grandfather’s, but I don’t think I have a sustained rival.”   
“No.” Lotor said firmly. “You _won’t_.”   
“I can help.” Lance said, just as firm.   
“You can help by giving us ideas.” Lotor snapped. “You’re a good tactician, put your mind to good use.”

“Why won’t you let the boy help, Lotor?” Haggar snapped. “He’s not as useless as _you_.”   
Zarkon cut off the impending argument. “Shut up, both of you.”   
Lotor snorted. “No, not this time. You are _not_ exposing him to your ‘ultimate’ quintessence Mother.”   
Haggar jerked back. “Oh.”   
Lotor nodded. “Oh, indeed.”

“It’s going to come up one day anyway.” Zarkon snapped. “But right now we’re focusing on Voltron. Boy, how do you propose we retrieve the lions?”   
Lance leaned forward. “Well, we could try to lure them down to a planet. They don’t always stay in the castle or the lions, if it had thick enough vegetation and they judged that the danger wasn’t large enough, they’d venture out. If we could lure them into a trap, perhaps using one of their allies, we’d have them. We could tow the lions out in separate ships after trapping them.”

Haggar sighed, exasperated, and threw her hands in the air. “This plan does not include a _single_ robeast! It’s sure to fail!”   
Lotor rolled his eyes. “Yes, like the robeast we sent to Arus wasn’t, or the robeast we sent to the Balmera. Face it, using brute force here will not help us. The real problem is knowing how to lure them in—we don’t really know anything about Voltron’s forces, except Allura, who is traumatized, and Coran, who is a traitor.”

“We have files on the false Black Paladin from his time in the arena.” Haggar pointed out.   
“Statistics don’t give us a good view into his mind.” Lotor huffed, before sitting up straight. “You said that there were two humans he was on a mission with? And they’re related to the Green Paladin? We could use them as bait.”   
Haggar typed their names into the search database. Keith immediately started even more paying attention. Haggar scrolled through Sam’s file, then deleted it. She did the same with Matt’s.

“Well?” Zarkon asked.   
“Somehow, they both escaped custody with outside help.” Haggar growled. “Once we get Voltron back, we need to crush these rebellions everywhere. They’re like insects under our feet.”   
“Was it the same rebel group?” Lotor asked.   
“No, it wasn’t.” Haggar remarked, clearly irked. “Nothing indicates that. Matthew Holt was taken by a subset of the Ion Raiders, while Samuel Holt was taken by what appears to be a group called Star Command.”

“They’re insects to us.” Zarkon huffed. “Should they band together they might actually pose a problem, but for now leave them be. Haggar, I require my quintessence.”   
Haggar rose, and the druids followed her and Zarkon out of the room. Lotor caught the eye-roll Haggar gave. Lotor turned to Lance. “Now, what was that stumbling over the word ‘hybrid’?”

“What stumbling?” Lance laughed nervously.   
Lotor sighed. “Lance, are you ashamed of what we are?”   
“No, of course not.” Lance said. “Why-why would I be ashamed…?”   
“Because of Altea.” Lotor remarked bluntly. “For all their veneration of the royal family, they never liked Idras and I, and they never accepted you the way _we_ do. Hybrids are a normal part of Galra society whereas the Alteans preferred absolutely everybody being related. Did you know we’re actually eighth cousins four times removed? Every other suitable match for your father was even closer.”   
Lance made a face. “That’s… gross.”

“Of course it is.” Lotor shrugged. “Honestly, even if Altea hadn’t been destroyed by outside forces, they were very close to destroying themselves through inbreeding and quarrelling. The Galra Empire is still alive because we _integrate_. Every allied planet has a place, as do its people. Hybrids like you, me, and your sister are better than everyone else, not least because we’re royalty.”   
Keith frowned. This was getting weird.   
“We’re not _better_ , I just want to be treated the same.” Lance said.

Lotor sighed dramatically. “Lance, Lance, Lance, you’re not a stupid boy. You’re a _prince_. You were never, ever going to be ‘normal’, from the moment of your conception to your tomb wearing away year after year. Your status as a hybrid just means you’re even more powerful.”   
Lance leaned away. “I’m not sure that’s really true.”   
Lotor sighed. “Alteans… speaking of hybrids, I have some questions for you, Keet’ahn.”

Keith blinked rapidly. “Me?”   
Lotor nodded, standing and turning to look at him. “You were held by Voltron, correct?”   
“Um… sure? I mean yes, yes I was.” Keith said.   
Lotor nodded appreciatively. “Then surely you have information on them?”   
“Uh… I guess?” Keith tried. “I was kept blindfolded and gagged and… with stuff on my ears. Also they kidnapped me randomly from Earth.”

“Interesting. Why did they do that?” Lotor asked.   
Keith shrugged. “Wrong place at the wrong time? I went to go investigate Shiro—I mean, the Black—I mean the _false_ Black Paladin’s crash site.”   
“Surely you know their names?” Lotor said sweetly.

Lance rose as well. “Uncle, leave him be. He was only a prisoner.”   
“Yes! Thank you, Lance.” Keith nodded firmly. “Only a prisoner.”   
Lotor narrowed his eyes. “Do _not_ address my nephew so intimately again, Keet’ahn. He is a _prince_ , you are a _peasant_. I’ve never seen a more disrespectful Galra.”

Keith narrowed his eyes back. “I’m not completely Galra.”   
Lotor ground his teeth. “You’re enrolled in the army, _Keet’ahn of House Emblar_. You may cling to your human heritage, but at heart, where it truly matters, you’re one of us. And I want names, Keet’ahn. Would you refuse _your_ prince?”

Keith glared at him. “The Green Paladin is Katherine Holt. The Yellow Paladin is Iosefa Garrett. The Blue Paladin—”   
“Don’t sass me.” Lotor snapped. “There’s not a Blue Paladin currently.”   
Keith pointed to Lance. Lotor was unable to narrow his eyes any further without looking less intimidating and more like there was something that he couldn’t quite see in the distance. Instead he grabbed Keith’s shirt in his hand, and pulled him close. “Don’t. Sass. Me.” Lotor hissed, before pushing Keith back.

“Whoa, there’s no need to do that!” Lance said, stepping in between them before Keith could retaliate. “I think we’re all just tired from the trip, right? It’s late, we should get to sleep.”

“What about the Red Paladin?” Lotor asked softly.   
Keith’s ears twitched. “What-what do you mean?”   
Lotor shrugged. “My nephew’s right, it’s late. But surely, we have time for a single name, Keet’ahn?”   
“…Sven.” Keith said. “Sven Kogane.” Somehow he had fashioned together a fake name for himself out of his mother’s maiden name and the first name that popped into his mind.

“Sven Kogane.” Lotor repeated.   
Keith shrugged. “That’s his name.”   
“S _ven_.” Lotor narrowed his eyes again, emphasizing the ‘ven’.   
Lance made a choking noise. “It probably means something different on Earth.”

“Yeah, I mean, I don’t actually know what it means, but it’s probably something generic like ‘valor’ or something.” Keith shrugged. “What does it mean here?”   
“S _ven_ is the Galra word for excrement.” Tetrok whispered to Keith, again emphasizing the ‘ven’ in particular. “It’s considered exceptionally rude.”   
“…oh.” Keith replied.   
“I will be looking into whether it is actually an Earth name, Keet’ahn of House Emblar. Do not test me, and do not sass me.” Lotor snapped, before waving them all off. “Go, escort my nephew to his quarters.”

The next few days were mostly comprised of state business and Lotor and Haggar fighting over Lance. While Haggar did not let Lance near the druids and their quintessence, she still tried to monopolize his time with long walks around the ship, wherein she’d ignore the guards completely. Lotor was very similar, yet he kept an eye on the guards. The only thing that made it worthwhile was that every night Lance and Keith would sneak out, usually to the observation deck, and talk over the day.

“And then the Ambassador looked like someone took a s _ven_ on her mother’s grave.” Keith snickered.   
Lance grinned. “Just like we planned.”   
Keith laughed. “I only hope your uncle doesn’t find out.”   
“Oh, he doesn’t care. He doesn’t really seem to care about _anything_ …” Lance’s grin faded into a frown.   
Keith cleared his throat awkwardly. “Hey, I know your uncle cares a lot about _you_.”

“And only me.” Lance replied. “Keith, my family used to be so close. Now my grandparents, the model of love for me and Allura, despise each other openly.”   
“It’s been ten thousand years, maybe the spark is just gone.” Keith pointed out.   
Lance shook his head. “No, they’re… different. They all hate each other now, and they have nothing _good_ to say about one another. And _Grandfather_ is completely different.”

“Ten thousand years is a long time.” Keith noted.   
Lance shot him a look, then moved over to a control panel in the wall. A list of files popped up, projected against the wall.   
“What are you looking for?” Keith asked.   
“I’m showing you how it used to be. It’s not a _natural_ change, Alteans and Galra don’t treat their bondmates this way.” Lance huffed. After a few minutes, he found the file he was looking for. The list of files turned into a video.

Haggar appeared first, laughing at a conference table with Zarkon and Lotor. Lance’s mother Idras was also there, cracking a very Lance-like grin, while holding a five year old Lance.   
“We’re meant to be conducting state business.” Zarkon said, though he couldn’t contain a smile. Keith squinted at the picture. Zarkon looked… different. More carefree, somehow, and his eyes were warm instead of cold and dead. “We need a comprehensive agriculture plan.”

“Oh, come on, Father. You’ve been working on that plan for such a long time!” Lotor said. “We all know how hard you’ve been going at it, why not come to Korian with us?”   
“I want to go to Korian!” Little Lance announced in the video.   
Idras squeezed him. “When you’re a bit older. You can’t be rowdy in Korian.”

“Don’t listen to her, Allances. You’re a nice boy, you deserve a spa day.” Haggar said. She created a small ball from her magic and tossed it to Lance. “Here, a treat for my favorite grandson.”   
Lance smiled back. “Thank you, Grandmother!”   
Haggar’s face became much softer than Keith ever thought possible. “You’re quite welcome. Now, tell your grandfather that he can’t just devote his life to work.”   
“Don’t use my child in your propaganda.” Idras laughed.

Lance said it anyway, and Zarkon grinned, swooping him up off of Idras’ lap. “Well, if Lance thinks I need a break, let’s go. I hear there’s _excellent_ juniberry ice on board. Shall we go looking for it?”   
“Yes!” Little Lance said ecstatically.   
“Coming, everyone?” Zarkon asked, smiling.   
Idras rose from the table. “I could go for some juniberries.”

Lotor stood quickly as well. “You _live_ on Altea! Save some for the rest of us!”   
Idras laughed. “You’re welcome to visit!”   
“I’m also welcome to beat you there!” Lotor announced, before leaving the room, his coattails snapping behind him.   
Haggar sighed, but she was still smiling. “Well then, I suppose we’re going to have to move quickly to beat him there.”   
“He’s going to eat it all if we’re not careful.” Idras rolled her eyes fondly, before taking Lance and leaving as well.   
Zarkon turned to his wife, gave her a gentle kiss, and offered her his arm. Gracefully, they exited the room, and Lance shut off the video.

“Wow.” Keith said, trying to judge Lance’s reaction.   
“I told you—they’re all different.” Lance huffed. “Would you have ever thought that was possible with them now?”   
“No.” Keith admitted. “Maybe it’s because your mother…?”   
Lance shook his head. “It’s not just her. It’s how Grandmother and Grandfather treat each other, how Uncle Lotor is always one step ahead of everyone… everything is different.”   
Keith took Lance’s hand. “Well, different isn’t always bad. And I’ll be by your side no matter what.”

Lance’s face lit up. “ _Keith_ , that’s so… sappy.”   
Keith laughed. “Don’t be a dick, I’m trying to be nice.”   
Lance stood, and extended his hand to help Keith up. “It’s getting late.”   
Keith took Lance’s hand, but didn’t let go. “I’ll escort you back to your room.”

Lance held up their joined hands and waggled his eyebrows. “Why not escort me directly to my bed?”   
Keith’s ears stood straight up in a Galra blush. “ _Lance_ , you can’t just say that!”   
“Yes I can. I can even say it again.” Lance grinned.   
“I need to get back to my own room.” Keith said firmly. Lance’s eyes still snapped up to Keith’s ‘blush’, and he smirked. “Can I come?”

“I’m leaving, Lance.” Keith said, letting go of his hand and walking out of the observation deck.   
“Aww, Keith, I’m sorry.” Lance said, following him.   
Keith gave him the side-eye, then suddenly kissed him. Lance stared at him in shock when Keith pulled away.   
Keith grinned. “There, now _you’re_ …” His grin faded. “Lance? I’m sorry, did I overstep—”   
He was cut off by Lance tackling him into a kiss. “Kissing you feels so right for some reason.” Lance muttered as he pulled away.

“I told you, we’ve met—someone’s coming!” Keith hissed. They scrambled to their feet as two robotic sentries rounded the corner. They stopped momentarily to register Lance and Keith, disheveled as they were, then continued on their way. Lance and Keith did the same.  
"Keith, do you trust me?" Lance asked as they walked back.   
"I guess? Why do you ask?"   
"If... you had a secret, like you were the Red Paladin... you'd tell me, right?" Lance asked nervously. 

Keith hesitated, but only for a second. "I... would, I guess? But I'm not the Red Paladin."   
Lance gave Keith a long look, then smiled. "Yeah, guess it was just the haircut. I don't have to worry about you." 

With Voltron, times were getting tough. While the Galra worked to perfect their plan to the last detail, they kept Voltron at bay by constantly barraging them with robeasts and warships, often at the same time. The paladins and castle barely made it out alive on several occasions.

Hiding behind a moon, they waited for Shiro, who had taken the recent brunt of an attack, to emerge from the healing pod.   
“How do they keep finding us so easily?” Hunk groaned.   
Allura hugged herself. “I… I don’t know. It could very easily be because of me.”   
Kurok entered and began handing out warm drinks. “I heard that. Your Majesty, why do you think it’s because of you?”

Allura sipped her hot drink. “Because of who I am. They could prick their fingers and use their blood.”   
Pidge sniffed her drink suspiciously, then pushed it away from her. “Yeah, but that sounds unnecessary. Also, they didn’t find anything for like, ten thousand years, including Lance and Blue, so that probably isn’t true.”   
“What about Lance’s relationship with Blue?” Hunk asked. “Or Zarkon with Black?”   
“There’s nothing to indicate that such a bond could stretch over such distance.” Allura said.

Hunk and Pidge exchanged a look.   
“I mean, Lance has the best bond.” Pidge pointed out. “And if they could find you by the pricking of their thumbs or other Macbeth stuff, couldn’t they boost the bond somehow?”   
“Also, we kind of delivered Keith to them, so couldn’t they do the same thing with Red if they found out?” Hunk added.   
“They can’t force anything.” Allura replied. “They’d have to break Keith’s mind first to get him to cooperate.”

“Would we… know… if they did?” Kurok asked.   
“Red would know.” Allura conceded. “I suppose that lends credence to your theory.” She sipped her drink again, then turned to Kurok. “What is this?”   
“I mixed several of the powders in the kitchen with hot water!” Kurok announced proudly. “The powder mix for the goo, several of the spices including what Hunk has told me is salt, sugar, a substitute for the human cinnamon, another substitute for the human garlic powder, and dried milk, among other things!”

Allura held her mug contemplatively. “It’s actually quite good. Can you make this more often?”   
“Of course, Your Majesty!” Kurok said, picking up his own mug.   
Hunk warily tried a sip, then winced. He slid the mug away from him subtly.   
“Alteans have no tastebuds.” He whispered to Pidge.   
“You didn’t realize that with the nunvil?” Pidge whispered back.

“Keith was the one who got drunk on it. Lance actually thought it was nasty.” Hunk shrugged.   
“I can hear you.” Allura huffed. “Nunvil isn’t meant to be imbibed the way that Keith did, the terrible flavor is there to prevent that.”   
Pidge nodded slowly. “What I’m hearing from this is that you, Lance, and Coran should never drink cocktails.”

Shiro’s pod dinged, and everyone rushed to help him as the door slid open.   
“Hey, guys.” He said weakly. “I… I think I remember how I escaped.”   
“Did you have help from someone?” Hunk asked.   
Everyone turned to look at him.

“What? It’s a reasonable conclusion—Shiro’s badass and all, but he was in pretty bad shape when we found him.” Hunk started fidgeting nervously.   
“As a matter of fact, I did have help. From a Galra, he helped me into a pod and gave me coordinates to find him.” Shiro said.   
Pidge pointedly looked at Kurok. “I mean, we already have evidence that the Galra are not just mindless drones and have personality and morality so… I feel like we should be more surprised but I’m honestly not.”

“Hang on, you were alone. What about all the other prisoners? Why did he save you?” Hunk asked.   
Shiro slowly sat down on the stairs near the pods. Allra joined him, gently rubbing his back.   
Shiro said, “I guess… he mentioned the Blue Lion… remember that warship Lance and Blue cut through? It was on its way to Earth.”

Pidge frowned. “But the Blue Lion would have been more or less useless without a pilot. Did he know about Lance too?”   
“He could have made an educated guess.” Kurok pointed out. “No one ever found Prince Allances’ body, and the lions and the castle were observed to have left by several sources considered reliable. Sendak got drunk once and started talking to me about the traditionalist view that the prince and princess escaped one way or another, as opposed to the revisionist view that they were inadvertently killed.”

“Wait, that’s in a history book?” Shiro asked.   
Kurok nodded. “We can’t go from a peaceful kingdom to a sprawling empire without noticing, and with history comes new theories and evidence. Clearly your friend was of the opinion that you didn’t have to just save the Blue Lion, but Prince Allances. The Red Lion wasn’t in danger when you found her, she never would have opened up to us alone, but with the Blue Lion…”

“We were lucky.” Allura said grimly. “We may not fare so well in the future.”   
“We should pursue this lead.” Shiro said firmly. “We need any ally we have against Zarkon.”   
“The lions are extremely damaged, especially Black.” Allura replied. “We need to pull in for repairs in the one place that will never fall.”

“Why didn’t you bring them up before?” Hunk asked. “Never falling sounds great.”   
“They aren’t militaristic, they’re neutral ground. They are incredibly advanced beings, but they think concerns like the Galra are beneath them.” Allura sighed.   
“How do you know they’ll help us?” Kurok asked.   
“They’re extremely hospitable, and we can pay them in quintessence.” Allura replied, before smiling wanly. “You all can finally receive the rest and relaxation you long for. Korian is a spa planet. I’ll go tell Coran and set a course.”


	14. Korian and the Holts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What y'all expected: Lance gets face masks, bickers with his sister, the usual shenanigans.   
> What y'all get: Angst. Angst and body horror. It's kind of defamiliarized and I only refer to it as 'ooze', but if you're not into that stuff, when it says, "Unfortunately, Pidge wasn't having such a wonderful time" just skip to the end. It's hard to say when it ends because of all the jumping around.

“The komar is almost ready for a test run.” Haggar said as she and Lotor shuffled down the corridor. “It will be my greatest triumph yet.”   
“Unless you fail to think out the logistics…” Lotor muttered.   
Haggar glared at him. “What was that, Lotor?”

“Nothing, Mother. However, it would be hard for Allances not to notice the giant surge of energy and desiccated planet below. We need him out of the way.”   
Haggar fixed Lotor with an unimpressed look. “He needs to find out sooner or later. It’s a waste if we don’t make him immortal.”   
“ _Gagh_ , that would ruin him!” Lotor huffed. “Why not just marry him off and perpetuate the cycle with his children?”

“I don’t care about some whelps.” Haggar hissed. “I care about _my_ grandson. Stop scheming, you were angry with us before you ever used corrupted quintessence. Allances will be fine.”   
Lotor glared at her. “For once in your life, respect my opinion. I know what the quintessence did to us, and you’re going to _waste_ having him around if you use it on him. Either way, there is no reason for him to know about the komar. I’ll take him to Korian.”

“Won’t that be suspicious?” Haggar snapped.   
Lotor sucked in air through his teeth. “No. Not as long as I bring a… distraction along.”   
Haggar narrowed her eyes at him. “Usually I don’t push it, because you’re often incomprehensible. In this case however, what the quiznak are you talking about, Lotor?”   
“Allances has a lover.”   
“He’s a baby!” Haggar protested. “And who is this?”

“…listen it’s very complicated.” Lotor replied. “It’s his guard, but it’s also the Red Paladin and I’m being very clever.”   
“The Red Paladin is _here_?” Haggar demanded.   
Lotor walked away very quickly, and Haggar jogged after him. “Lotor come back here! Explain yourself!”   
Lotor started walking faster, then broke into a run. Haggar hiked up her skirts and ran after him.

“—believe you haven’t had juniberry ice—what the quiznak?!” Lance yelped as Lotor ran past, pressing himself and Keith to the wall. Lotor stopped suddenly, and smoothed his hair. “Ah, Allances, there you are.”   
Haggar nearly ran into Lotor. “What’s this about the Red Paladin?!”   
Lotor closed his eyes as if in pain. “The Red Paladin… yes… we have found him. He’s skulking around on Galaris. I will give you the details after our trip to Korian.”

“Korian?” Lance repeated.   
Haggar looked straight at Keith, and narrowed her eyes. She exchanged a look with Lotor, who gave a strained smile.   
“You’re an adult, act like it.” Haggar finally said to Lotor. She turned to leave, then turned back. “And do _not_ keep secrets from me like this again, or you’ll end up a robeast. Is that clear?”

Lance and Keith looked at each other. Lance mouthed ‘what the quiznak’, and Keith shrugged. Lotor sighed, slipping back into his usual slimy self. “Now, Allances, I’m so sorry that you had to see that. Mother is… old. Her age has caught up with her. She and Father will be conducting a standard government test soon, and we’ve been cleared for a small vacation. Pack your bags, or have your Keet’ahn do it. We’re leaving within two vargas.”

Lotor sauntered away, and Keith crossed his arms. “He’s always so slick around us, like Lucius Malfoy.”   
“He wasn’t slick when he came to us. He actually looked kind of…” Lance gestured vaguely.   
“Yeah, I didn’t know anything could faze him, least of all his mom.” Keith commented as they began walking towards Lance’s room. “So, what’s Korean?”   
“Korian.” Lance corrected.  “It’s a completely neutral spa planet, it was mentioned on the video we watched of my family.”

“A spa planet? That sounds… normal.” Keith noted.   
Lance laughed. “It’s… well, you’ll see. Don’t bring any weapons.”   
“What? I love wea—I mean, I’m your bodyguard.” Keith cleared his throat.   
Lance put a hand on his shoulder. “And I care about you. Don’t throw yourself away protecting me from a threat that doesn’t exist. I told you, it’s… you know what, I’ll explain on the way there.”

With Voltron, Kurok had managed to land the castle safely on Korian.   
“Alright, launch the lions, but land in front of the castle. Do not, under any circumstances activate any weaponry whatsoever. Exit them as soon as possible. These are technically war machines, and if they pose any threat, they, and you, will be vaporized on sight.”   
Pidge and Hunk quickly scrambled out of their lions.

As soon as they were all out of their lions, a willowy, pale blue figure appeared out of nowhere. Their eyes, the same monotonous shade as their skin, moved from paladin to paladin before settling on Allura. “Queen Allura of Altea, it has been quite some time since you have visited us.”   
“That is has.” Allura said. “I need repairs done on the Castle of Lions and the Lions of Voltron.”   
The figure turned to examine them. “We can have a full repair and tune up for everything done within three quintants. Will you give us the same payment as King Alfor of Altea?”

“Hold on, Altea doesn’t exist anymore.” Shiro said.   
The figure’s attention snapped to him. “Do not presume that the planet held all those of Altean blood, Takashi Shirogane. And do not presume that we want gold.”   
“The old agreement stands, though please do not weaken the lions too much.”   
The figure gave a cold imitation of a smile. “And would you like to enjoy the facilities?”   
“What’s the price of _that_?” Pidge asked warily.

The figure continued their cold smile. “Some of your personal quintessence. Nothing you won’t regain over the next few days with good food and rest.”   
“And what do we get out of this?” Hunk added.   
The figure cocked their head. “Korian prides itself on being a true place of rest and relaxation. We have every option available in the universe, from Unilu massages to Balmeran mud baths. We have hair care options, skin care options, and more. Would you like to hear more options?”

“That won’t be necessary.” Allura interrupted. “All six of us would like to have access to the spa, and we will pay when we leave.”   
The figure nodded. “Understood. We will escort you to—please excuse me.”   
A Galra ship landed on the planet, and an identical figure to theirs hovered near the entrance.

“Stand your ground, and do _not_ use your weapons.” Allura said, interlocking her fingers with Shiro’s metallic ones to keep him from firing it up.   
“That’s the Galra!” Pidge protested.   
“We can’t attack, and neither can they.” Allura replied firmly. The ship opened, and several figures strode out.

“Hello Prince Lotor, Prince Allances. Will you have the regular treatment?” The Korian interface asked as the figures on the Galra ship left. One of them stopped and stared at the Castle of Lions, then broke into a run.   
“Allances!” Lotor yelled.   
Keith took off after him, as did Lotor and other Galra that Allura didn’t recognize. The interface fizzled out, and Allura’s snapped back to life as Lance smacked into her, hugging her so tightly she thought she couldn’t breathe.

“I thought I lost you.” Lance muttered, his voice thick with tears.   
Allura gently ran a hand through his hair and held him with her free arm.   
“Allances, come away from her.” Lotor ordered, peering over the rim of what could only be described as space sunglasses.   
“You can’t force him to go anywhere.” Allura snapped. “He’s home now, with us.”

Lance drew back. “No, Allura, you don’t need to stay here.”   
Lotor gave a triumphant smile. “Yes, niece. You’re allowed to come _home_ , to your real home. No one can hurt you here.”   
“Wh… the paladins haven’t hurt me.” Allura replied. “And I would sooner die than join you.”

Lance backed up even further. “No. No, you’re not…”   
Lotor sighed, wrapping an arm around Lance. “Allances, I am so sorry, but I had my suspicions. They were, after all, able to force bonds with the lions, which are tied to Allura’s life force.”   
“ _What_?” Allura demanded. “That-that’s insane!”   
Lance glared at her. He put all of his fingers on one hand together, brought them to his mouth, and made a blossoming motion while sticking his tongue out.

“Allances!” Allura gasped. “How dare you use such language!”   
“That is _not_ befitting of a prince!” Coran added.   
Lotor snickered.   
Keith and Shiro shrugged at each other from behind their respective Altean royalty.

“You betrayed all of us.” Lance hissed. “You… I can’t even _begin_ to tell you how betrayed I feel right now.”   
Allura’s face fell. “Lance, I… there are gaps in your memory, aren’t there?”   
Lance flinched, then glared at her. “No. There aren’t.” He grabbed Keith’s hand, and stormed off towards the spa, putting his middle finger in the air.

“What’s that?” Allura muttered to Shiro.   
“Rude Earth symbol.” He muttered back. “I think Keith taught him that.”   
Lotor pushed up his sunglasses so that they completely covered his eyes again and looked toward Allura. “I really hope you know what you’re doing. It’s been so long since I have had a truly great opponent.”   
“What are you talking about?” Allura demanded.

Lotor sighed. “It gets boring being the cleverest after ten thousand years of it. I haven’t had a challenge, I haven’t had really anything to stimulate my mind beyond my parents running around trying to capture Voltron leaving me in charge of the empire. You seem like you’re trying to outsmart me. You won’t, but it’s nice of you to try.”   
“Outsmart you, Uncle?” Allura said sweetly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Allura wasn’t entirely sure, but she was under the impression Lotor had narrowed his eyes at her. Then he smiled slightly. “Tell Red and Blue hello from their paladins, and apologies neither got a proper greeting.” Allura froze, and Lotor almost gleefully continued. “Yes… Red’s off chasing down a Blue Paladin, isn’t he? Well, I must go find Lance before he and Keet’ahn of House Emblar ‘accidentally’ lock themselves in a broom cupboard. Tata.”

“He knows.” Allura choked out as Lotor left. “He knows about Keith.”   
“If he does, why hasn’t he killed him?” Kurok asked gently.   
“It was _just_ vague enough.” Pidge agreed. “Also Keith honestly seems fine, back to making out with Lance apparently, and Lotor called him Keet’ahn. He didn’t call him Keith.”   
“He waited until Keith and Lance were gone.” Shiro frowned.

“He can’t hurt Keith on Korian, and it’s unlikely he will back on the ship. Lotor didn’t have a sudden realization to my knowledge.” Coran twirled his moustache. “However, either way we can’t talk to Keith openly without really risking his cover.”

“I got this, does he know Tolkien Elvish?” Pidge asked. “What about Klingon?”   
Shiro looked at Allura. “Does the translator work for writing as well?”   
“No, I don’t believe so.” She replied.   
Shiro smiled. “Then I know what to do.”   
Allura smiled as well. “You go get your brother, I’ll go get mine.”   
“I guess the rest of us get to go on break because we’re not workaholics.” Hunk noted. “Sweet.”  

Inside the spa, Lance still had a firm grip on Keith’s hand, though not so much that it hurt. Keith dug in his heels, but Lance continued on. One of the blue figures popped up, and jogged alongside them. “Prince Allances, would you like to be escorted to your room, or would you like to go straight to the facilities?”   
“Room!” Keith blurted out.   
The figure turned to look at him, and Lance stopped.

The figure then looked at their interlocked fingers, and asked, “Shall I give you a room for two?”   
“What.” Keith said blankly.   
“Two beds.” Lance replied. The figure nodded, and showed them to their room, handing them both a key.  
Lance sat down on a bed, finally releasing Keith’s hand.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Keith asked. He was slightly proud of himself, he was getting good at this ‘talking to people without pissing them off’ thing.   
“Both of my sisters turned on their own family.” Lance hugged himself. “Farla was married to the king of the Drule, and the Drule must have destroyed Altea. Allura is working with Voltron against my grandfather. It’s just… how could they?”

Keith sat down next to him. “We don’t have the full story. You yourself said that your grandfather has changed—”   
Lance glared at Keith. “I would think very, very carefully before finishing that sentence. Even I can’t save you from blatant treason.”   
Keith glared back. “Okay, listen up. I’ve been trying to keep a handle on my temper, but this is too far. Not only are you ignoring your family running around doing evil stuff, you’re burying every dissenting thought. I’m not going to let you bury _me_ anymore.”

“Evil stuff?” Lance laughed mirthlessly. “Eloquent.”   
Keith narrowed his eyes, pushing himself off of the bed. “You know what I mean. Why do you think they wanted to get rid of you? What about those jars of ‘corrupted quintessence’ on the ship? Where do you think they’re getting that much of it that quickly, and what can corrupt quintessence? Your sister is out there fighting for the universe’s freedom, the least you can do is hear her out!”

Lance stood suddenly, his face very close to Keith’s. “You’ve been working with them the whole time, haven’t you? You’re right, I _should_ have seen it. But Allura has never heard me out, why should I extend her the same courtesy?!”   
“Give me an example of her not hearing you out.” Keith snapped. “I’m not saying it isn’t true, I’ve seen it myself, but tell me.”   
Lance opened his mouth, then closed it again. Then he stepped back, still glaring at Keith. “Don’t change the subject. I still feel the same way, even if I’ve forgotten why. That doesn’t matter anyway, what matters is that you were working with Voltron!”

“I wasn’t working with Voltron!” Keith blatantly lied. “Everything I feel for you is _real_! But you need to apply critical thinking skills, and stop thinking that your family is perfect!”   
“My family was never perfect, Keet’ahn. But they are my family.” Lance’s voice was low, and his eyes seemed to glow like embers. “And unless they destroyed Altea, I will stand by them.”   
“Even if they’re destroying other planets _like_ Altea?!” Keith shot back.   
“I can help, I can change this. It’s more than you or Allura ever tried to do!” Lance growled.

“Will you pull your head out of your ass and listen to yourself?!” Keith demanded. “You’re in denial, and the Galra are never, ever going to stop expanding their empire! Why do you think your grandfather wants Voltron so badly? But fine, if you want to, sever all ties with people who actually love you and stay with your weird uncle, crazy grandfather, and evil grandmother!”  

Keith stormed out, not looking back. He passed Lance’s other guards, and didn’t slow down despite their inquiries. He then managed to make himself thoroughly lost instead of finding Red outside like he wanted. He looked around, then ducked into a nearby room to try and orient himself. It was a sauna, and the three people inside screamed upon seeing him, despite being fairly clothed. Right, he was a Galra.   
Keith quickly shut the door again, and resumed wandering, not that it helped his bad mood.

He stopped when he realized someone was following him. He ducked down a corridor, then waited for them to pass. Instead, the person stopped at the mouth of the corridor. “You know I saw you, right?”   
“Takashi.” Keith ran to hug his brother, now clad in swim trunks with a towel around his neck.   
“Must be serious if you’re not calling me that dumb nickname.” Shiro chuckled. “I was looking for you anyway, it’s good that I found you.”

“I messed everything up with Lance.”   
“Aw, Keith, that’s not true. He still liked you after you burned all his stuff, that takes dedication.”   
Keith punched his brother in the arm. “We had a huge fight, dingus. Anyway, what do you need me for?”  
“I just wanted to tell you that Lotor might be onto you.” Shiro said. “He said some stuff to Allura after you guys left that had us all on edge.”   
“Nah, I told him the Red Paladin’s name was Sven Kogane.”   
“The Kogane part I get, but _Sven_?” Shiro choked back a laugh.

“Yeah… apparently that means ‘shit’ in Galran.” Keith huffed.   
Shiro nodded, hiding a smile with his hand. “I know a bit of Galran. Just watch out for Lotor.”   
“Lotor’s not the problem, I blew the mission by fighting with Lance.” Keith explained.   
Shiro put his human hand on Keith’s shoulder. “Keith, you didn’t blow the mission. Allura’s going to do everything in her power to get him back, and trust me, that woman is powerful.”

Keith rolled his eyes. “Sappy. The Galra know about y’all kissing on that planet. Popped up in the middle of a Voltron debriefing.”   
“You call me sappy, but you’re the one freaking out over a breakup.” Shiro pointed out.   
“We didn’t break up!” Keith hissed.

Shiro crossed his arms. “The mission is in jeopardy, but you and Lance haven’t broken up? I call bullshit.”   
Keith stared at him. “Oh my God, what have I done…”   
“It doesn’t have to be permanent, but give him some space before trying to talk to him again.” Shiro recommended. “Now come on, I’ve heard there’s a heated wave pool that’s supposed to be incredibly relaxing.”

“I don’t have a swimsuit.” Keith protested.   
“Just ask one of the… blue robot people.” Shiro said.   
Keith was about to protest again, but then considered that this was probably the only rest Shiro had had in quite a long time. “Okay.”   
“And _then_ after you’ve had time to cool down, you should talk to Lance.” Shiro said pointedly. “Whatever you said to him couldn’t be _that_ bad. Did you confess to a murder?”   
“No, I haven’t murdered anyone.” Keith hissed. “I called his family—Lotor, Zarkon, Haggar—crazy.”   
Shiro raised an eyebrow. “You’re upset that you denounced genocidal maniacs who kidnapped your boyfriend?”

“No, _ugh_ , I just… I’ll explain it on the way to the pool.” Keith huffed, stamping down the corridor.   
“Wrong way!” Shiro called after him.   
“I KNEW THAT.” Keith called back.

At the other end of the spa, all five of those with Altean blood had been collected for a traditional Altean oil treatment. The room itself was deadly to those who were not of Altean blood, being incredibly hot.   
Lance was sandwiched between Allura and Lotor (not of his own volition), Coran was on Allura’s other side, and next to him was a stranger that no one really paid any mind to, partially because they had what amounted to washcloths covering their faces.

“How could you betray us?” Lance hissed at Allura as one of the staff poured oil in his hair and combed it through with a heated comb. “Your own family?”   
Allura took a deep breath, forcing herself to keep calm. “It’s been ten thousand years, they’re not family anymore. They’re monsters.”   
“Okay, now that’s just rude.” Lotor commented.

“Stay out of this.” Allura ordered, pointing in Lotor’s direction and nearly whacking Lance in the face. “You’re a _cymcyrral_ , or at least you accept one!”   
“Allura.” Lance gasped. “That-that-that’s a terrible thing to say!”

“It’s _true_.” Allura snapped. “Zarkon killed Mother, and then he killed Father. Lotor still lives in his father’s house.”   
“I live on a ship most of the time, but yes, I haven’t denounced my family.” Lotor said.   
Lance sat up suddenly, yanking his washcloth off and distressing the blue person assigned to him. “Allura, you can’t just _say_ that! If you’re going to lie, at least make it believable!”

Allura sat up as well. “It’s not a lie! I wouldn’t lie about our parents! Why do you think I oppose them so much, Allances? Why do you think the lions have chosen these paladins? Do you really think they’re the same people, that they even really qualify as our family anymore?”   
“It’s been ten thousand years.” Lance pointed out. “Of course, they’ve changed.”   
Allura grabbed his wrist. “Look at me, Allances. Look me in the eye and tell me who killed our mother.”

Lance jerked his hand away. “I… Grandfather was sick, Allura.”   
“He was… strange after Elcmanus, wasn’t he?” Allura continued. “But he’s still just as strange.”   
Lotor sat up suddenly, glaring at Allura. “Allura, your treason has gone far enough. Father is no longer the man he was after Elcmanus, and you know that, don’t you Allances?”   
Lance nodded slowly. “Allura, you’ll always be my sister, but I just can’t betray the rest of our family like that.”

The fifth person in the room (as Coran was pointedly staying out of it and actually relaxing instead of scheming) then spoke up. “I can’t believe Lotor got someone to trust him. I guess anything can happen.”   
Lotor growled, “What do you want, Tanilacke?”   
“That’s my great-grandfather’s name, and you know it.” The stranger hissed. The staff removed the washcloths, and Lotor and the stranger glared at each other.

“Who cares?” Lotor asked flippantly. “You’ll be just as dead as him in a few more years. Why bother to learn your name?”   
The stranger snorted loudly. “Callous, Lotor. I don’t know what I expected from _you_ though.”   
“Oh? Do tell, Farracot.”   
“Aw, you do know my name.” Farracot smirked. “And here I thought I didn’t pique your interest.”

Lotor rolled his eyes. “A bug may splatter on your windshield planet-side, that doesn’t mean you don’t notice it.”   
Farracot’s smirk widened. “Oh Lotor, we both know between the two of us, you’re the smaller one.”   
“I’m sorry, were you two once in a relationship?” Allura interrupted.

“Ew, _no_.” Farracot spat.   
“We’re arch-enemies.” Lotor agreed. “He’s an idiotic king of a backwater planet that worships a bastard, and _I_ am poised to rule a sprawling, universal Empire should my father’s age ever catch up with him.”   
“Don’t insult Queen Farla.” Farracot snapped.

“Farla?” Lance asked in surprise. “Farla Gamcymz?”   
“The one and the same.” Farracot preened. “Our illustrious queen—she’s the one who brought the Alteans in out of the outer colonies, saving them from _him_.” Here he shot a dark look at Lotor, before continuing. “9 in 10 Drule now have Altean blood thanks to her, and we have the largest population of Altean blooded in the universe. Sure, there are stragglers here and there, but it’s mainly Drule.”

Allura covered her mouth in shock. “We’re… not alone.”   
Lotor rolled his eyes. “Of course not, you’re family, are you not?”   
Farracot was about to shoot a nasty remark at him, but then he noticed Allura. “You’re… you’ve got the most Altean blood I’ve ever seen. In fact, I’d say you’re pretty much a deadringer for Queen Farla…”

“Farla’s eyes had more blue, and her translators were Northern instead of Southern.” Lance huffed. “ _And_ her hair was shorter. They may have both betrayed me, but I _think_ I can tell my sisters apart.”   
“You’re the Altean Queen!” Farracot breathed, before taking Allura’s hand. Lotor gave this exchange a snide glance.

“I… yes?” Allura replied, caught off guard.   
Farracot gave a winning smile. “Oh, _amkwemda_. It’s not often I meet other royalty, especially those with Altean blood.”   
“Well, you know, I don’t like being around you that much.” Lotor remarked.   
Farracot shot him a nasty look. “I wasn’t talking about you.”

“I bet you weren’t talking about Allances either.” Lotor huffed.   
“Why are you dragging me into this?” Lance hissed.   
Lotor shrugged, feigning nonchalance before pulling Lance away.   
“Let’s go find the Black Paladin, _hmm_?” Lotor muttered under his breath. Lance wisely didn’t answer.

Coran, the only Altean to properly finish his oil treatment, went off in search of Kurok for a couple’s massage while King Farracot talked Allura’s ear off. The only thing stopping her from telling Farracot to quiznak off was the impression that this man could be a valuable ally. Lotor clearly disliked him, and the large Altean population meant that she would likely have his allegiance. She’d talk it over with Shiro and hopefully they wouldn’t have to visit the quiznaking Blade of Marmora.

The other paladins were engaging in various calming activities. Keith and Shiro remained in the wave pool (Keith having located appropriately sized swimwear) which was a pleasant warmth for Keith while he vented everything to Shiro, not too cold and not too hot for his fur, while easing some of the ache in Shiro’s arm, where he’d kept his prosthetic on (partially because he needed it for piloting and hadn’t been able to take it off, partially because he trusted all the other Galra as far as Pidge could throw Hunk). Speaking of Hunk, the farther he got from the other paladins and the Galra, the less drama he had. After somehow leading a cooking class (he doesn’t know how either, but everyone was very pleased with him) and walking into an aviary, he was now in what could only be described as yoga, pleasantly stretching without a hint of drama.

Pidge did not share this fate. Pidge had gone straight for the heart of the technology surrounding Korian. Obviously, Korian had more than the staff, which included a state of the art communications center that could locate anyone in the universe, and what they called the ‘memory’ room. Pidge first went to the communications, offering a sample of her DNA so the specific individuals she wanted to contact could be identified.

First she tried to call Colleen. In many ways this was the most successful, as Korian’s interface patched through into Skype and rang on Colleen’s computer. Pidge was greeted with the sight of her mother in a bathrobe, hair swept into a messy bun like she hadn’t gotten any sleep.

“Katie?” Colleen blinked rapidly, before grinning. “Katie! How are you? What’s wrong? How are you calling me?”   
Pidge wiped at her eyes. She’d been away from home before, but never for so long. It helped so much to see and hear her mom again. “I’m-I’m good, Mom. Better than good, we’re on a small break while Allura tries to get her brother back from her crazy Uncle Lotor. We’re on this planet called Korian, I think Shiro might finally get a break.”

“That’s good for Takashi, but how are you?” Colleen pressed. “Your last video said you’re fighting in a war, and then we didn’t hear from you for so long…”   
“Yeah… the thing is, Lance got kidnapped and Keith turned into a Galra to go save him… it’s complicated. Like, really complicated. Keith might be half-Galra?”

“Not might be, he is.” Colleen sipped her coffee. “His mother is still on Earth, but I think his biological father may be dead, based on what she’s said.”   
Pidge leaned back in surprise. “You… you know her? Mom, she’s _Galra_.”   
Colleen fixed Pidge with a hawk-like look. “Katherine Ann Holt, in this family we don’t judge people by their race and our own prejudices. Kara of House Emblar is a lovely woman, and I am proud to know her.”

Pidge waved her arms in the air. “The Galra took over the universe—did you say House Emblar?”   
“I did, and you don’t know what Kara has been through.” Colleen shuddered.   
“…are you sure it’s House Emblar?” Pidge asked. “Because that’s Sendak’s… I want to say House?”

“Let me check.” Colleen said, before calling, “Kara? Your House is Emblar, right?”   
There was an unintelligible response, and Colleen answered, “Because Katie says she met up with someone named Sendak along the way.”   
Another response Pidge couldn’t hear, and Colleen sipped her coffee. “Kara says he’s her brother. …Katie, you didn’t mistreat him, did you?”

“No.” Pidge answered, now glad that at the very least Shiro and Lance had stopped her from lying to her mother. Colleen Holt was fearsome indeed, and the consequences of this wouldn’t be fun for anyone.   
Colleen smiled. “That’s good. I have to leave soon to meet up with the Shiroganes, is there anything you want to tell me?”

“Nothing besides Keith’s a Galra. And… I miss you.”   
Colleen smiled sadly. “I miss you too, sweet pea. But I also understand that what you’re doing up there is important. Good luck, Katie. I love you.”   
“I love you too.” Pidge said. She put her hand to the screen, and so did Colleen. “Bye, Mom.”

“Bye, Pidge.” Colleen smiled again before the connection was cut.   
Pidge wiped her eyes on her sleeve before calling the next number. She was patched through to Star Command Communications Center, which unfortunately was audio only.

“Who is this?” Someone asked on the other end, accompanied by the familiar static of a translation.   
“Katherine Holt. I want to talk to my dad, Samuel Holt.” Pidge replied.   
Though the aliens tried to cover the communications device, she could hear them conferring.

“She wants to talk to the Samuel.”   
“Yes, and she could very well be a Galra trick. I have personally never heard of this Cat-hair-rin before, and I pride myself on being excellent friends with the Samuel.”   
“She asked for him by name though? And doesn’t he have a daughter with a similar name?”

“Yes, on _Earth_. And similar doesn’t mean same.”   
“Well alright, I’ll ask her a question to see if she knows the answer.”   
“Yes good idea.”

Pidge braced herself for any question they could ask her when the alien returned to the direct communication. “Alright, if you are truly the Cat-hair-rin, what is the name of the pilot on the ship the Samuel was on when the Galra found him?”   
“Takashi Shirogane. He’s here with us, I don’t know exactly where though.” Pidge replied.   
The aliens conferred again.

“A lucky guess.” The second one hissed. “And the Galra know of the Shiro.”   
“The Galra _have_ the Shiro.” The first one said. “But I’ll ask another question.” They returned to the line, and said, “You have passed the first test. Here is the second; what is the full name of the Matthew?”

“Matthew Conrad Holt.” Pidge answered readily. The aliens conferred again.   
“Is that right?”   
“I don’t know!”   
“Well neither do I! Go ask the Samuel!”

“If we bring him here unnecessarily and it turns out to be a trap and he gets sad Jetr will be mad at us!”   
“Let’s just tell him about the Cat-hair-rin and see what he says.”   
“Oooh, good idea. Hang on. The Cat-hair-rin, I am going to go talk to the Samuel about this turn of events. Is there anything you want me to pass on?”

Pidge leaned back for a minute, then said, “Tell him… tell him Pigwigdgeon made it to space, and she’s safe, and she’s going to come get him and Matt. Did you get all that?”   
“Sure, the Cat-hair-rin.” The aliens signed off. Several solar systems away, Falcrav scuttled into Samuel’s workshop, where he was administering an anti-histamine to a sneezing rebel fighter.

“The Samuel…” Falcrav tried to begin.   
“Just a minute, Falcrav! Dionet is allergic to Galra fur.” Samuel interrupted. “And refuses to just…” Samuel was finally able to give the fighter the hypospray injection, and the sneezing slowed.   
“There you go. Come talk to me if it gets worse, on Earth we have people whose throats can close up from allergies.” Samuel said. The fighter paled at the idea then ran away.

“Is Jetr back?” Samuel asked casually, sterilizing the equipment with alcohol.   
“No, not yet.” Falcrav said. “We just got a call from someone outside Star Command.”   
“Really? That’s new.” Samuel said, pulling out a cleaning rag to dry the hypospray and rubbing gently.

“It really is. The Samuel, they said that their name was Cat-hair-rin Holt…”   
Samuel dropped the empty hypospray, and stared at Falcrav. “They said… what?”   
“They said their name, and they said to tell you… ‘Pigwidgeon is in space, and she’s safe, and she’s coming for you and the Matt’.” Falcrav peered at Samuel nervously. “Is the Cat-hair-rin dangerous?”

Samuel shook his head. “That’s my daughter, Katie. Can-can I call her back?”   
“We can try…” Falcrav chewed on his lip thoughtfully. “What’s all this Pigwidgeon business?”   
Samuel laughed. “My family… well, my _father_ is a literary nerd. He named me Samuel and my brother Friedrich so he could pretend he’d named us Samwise and Frodo, two famous… that doesn’t matter now. He nicknamed Katie that when she was little because she was so small but so hyper, and it kind of stuck. It got modified into her usual nickname, Pidge, because it’s easier to say—you know what, again, that doesn’t matter now.” He ran past Falcrav to the communications hub.

“Kleetnad! Kleetnad, retrace the signal you just received!” Samuel said.   
“Um… Jetr checking in?” Kleetnad asked, glancing to the records.   
“No no no no, Katie. Katherine.” Samuel said.

Kleetnad looked behind Samuel nervously. “Well… I can’t. Not unless it was the last one, because it’s heavily encrypted… Falcrav, come help?”   
Samuel felt the weight of this sink into him. Katie, and possibly Colleen, were in space. He didn’t know where, he didn’t know how, and he didn’t know when the Galra would get them. While Kleetnad and Falcrav bickered over the specifics of the transmission, Samuel returned to his room, locked the door, and cried to himself.

On Korian, Pidge tried to contact the third member of her family. It rang several times, but Matt didn’t pick up. She tried again, and finally got through.   
“This is Fighter 3, what is it Base?” Someone asked over a radio.   
“Fighter?” Katie replied.   
“You’re not the Base.” Whoever it was replied. “Our encryption’s been broken.”

Someone said something in the background, and the person on the radio sounded more tender. “You sound very young. Have you been captured by the Galra?”   
“No, but not for lack of them trying. I’m trying to talk to my brother, Matt Holt. Matthew Conrad Holt.” Pidge crossed her arms.   
Someone in the background said something again, and the voice on the radio became stern. “Trying to use his sister won’t work, you know. How did you get this number?”

“Oh my God, it’s the same thing as Dad’s group…” Pidge groaned. “It’s _Katie_! It’s _Pidge_! Tell Matt to call me back.”   
“How do I know you’re who you say you are—MATT LEFT, LEFT!” The radio person screamed.   
In the background Pidge could hear Matt’s pterodactyl screech of terror. The conversation abruptly cut out, likely as the radio person went to go help Matt.

Pidge leaned back, processing this information. Both her father and brother were out of Galra hands, but both seemed to have gotten themselves right back into the thick of the war. She briefly wondered what Shiro would say when she told him.

Onboard Fighter 3, Matt finally stopped screeching as Hyvet took the wheel back.   
“Please never make me pilot again.” Matt begged, moving back to his position fixing the artillery. “I’m not a Shirogane.”   
Hyvet cracked a small smile. “Well, I don’t know what that is, but I agree. No more piloting for you, if only to save my ears.”

Matt looked back from his position at the wirebox on the wall. “Hey, the asteroid field came out of nowhere. Anyway, what’d the Galra say?”   
“They said their name was Katie, and then they said their name was Pidge, but they finished asking you to call them back.” Hyvet replied. “Bastards, using your sister like that.”

Matt slowly lowered his multi-tool, looking back to Hyvet. “They shouldn’t have known Katie’s nickname… and the person sounded young… you don’t think they have my sister, do you?”   
“The Galra don’t allow calls.” Hyvet said confidently. “Don’t worry, Matt. Well, do worry, we’re almost there, but don’t worry about _your sister_. Worry about us going into certain death.”

Matt fixed him with an unimpressed look, before sealing up the wires and returning to his seat. “Hyvet, if we make it out of here alive, then please don’t give me pep talks ever again.”   
“Noted.” Hyvet smiled, before their fighter landed behind Galra lines on the base. They engaged their space suits, and slipped out of the fighter to slip into the base. They did well so far, mostly because the base they had chosen was a mostly unguarded outpost, but they were well aware that there were many droid sentries in stasis if they messed up.

They finally made it to the main command center, and Matt got to a computer, sticking in the equivalent of a thumbdrive and copying a lot of content. “I really do wish Katie was here, if only because she’s better with software than me.” He muttered. He clicked on a folder, then shuddered, closing it.

“What was that?” Hyvet asked. “Military tactics? Prisoner information?”   
“The commanding officer’s porn. Speaking of which, where is he?” Matt glanced around. “We didn’t see him anywhere, just droids patrolling the halls.”   
Hyvet paused in thought. “I think it’s his sleep cycle.”   
“Cats are nocturnal…” Matt muttered.

“Who are you?” A new voice snapped. Matt and Hyvet automatically pulled out the blasters at their waists before even seeing who it was, just as their limited training in camp had taught them.   
Hyvet lowered his blaster upon seeing that it was another rebel group led by what looked like a humanoid with a long snout and pink fur covering every part of him, as well as abnormally sharp teeth and three fingers on each hand. Matt didn’t lower his blaster, especially since the alien kept staring at him.

Whispers ran through the alien’s group, and Hyvet cleared his throat. “Friends, we are all here for a common purpose. Why not work together, and take two separate copies of our information home?”   
Matt’s eyes widened as he realized he wasn’t being stared at as a novelty, he was being stared at because something about him was familiar. “Is it my father or Takashi?”

“Excuse me?” The leader snapped. “Get your human under control.”   
“He’s not under my _control_ , we’re partners.” Hyvet explained.   
“Just like you and—” One of the rebels said, before the leader cut him of with a snap of his jaws.

“You said human correctly.” Matt said. “There’s only three humans that have been out this deep in space, and I certainly haven’t met you before. So which is it—Dad or Takashi?”   
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” The leader growled. “We are simply here for the information. Do as your _partner_ says and allow us access to the computer.”

“Technically, Hyvet said that we should share information. So, share. Where’s my father, Samuel Holt?” Matt snapped.   
“Matt, _lower your gun_.” Hyvet hissed. “They outnumber us, don’t get killed over this!”   
“I need to know if they’re okay, Hyvet!” Matt sounded much more emotional than he meant to, but at this point he didn’t care. “I need to know if my dad made it out—I haven’t seen him or Takashi in so long, they’re both probably dead but…” The tears were coming now, but Matt still kept the gun up.

“Why do you think the best way to get information out of me is to point a weapon at us?” The leader deadpanned.   
“Jetr, just tell him what he wants to hear.” One of the rebels muttered.   
Jetr really, really didn’t want to. He had lost his wife to the Galra, he didn’t want to lose Samuel too. And yes, it was incredibly selfish, but the boy was perceptive. He would come for Samuel soon enough, and take him then. Why not let Jetr have Samuel a bit longer?

Hyvet, the Gnarian, went over to the human Matt and took the gun away. “Don’t get yourself killed over him. We know he recognized you, and by his caginess we know whoever is with him is alive. We’ll find them, but we need that information right now.”

The USB equivalent beeped loudly, signaling the end of the data transfer. Matt pulled it out, and stuck it in his pocket. “Guess we’ll be going then.”   
“Why not just give us a copy?” Jetr asked.   
“I don’t owe you anything.” Matt spat, before linking his fingers with Hyvet’s.

“Breathe.” Hyvet said, obviously concerned about Matt having another asthma attack, even if that wasn’t necessarily possible. “And be quiet—the commander’s still here.”   
“No, we took him out.” Jetr said simply. “But fine, Matthew Holt. Have it your way.”

Hyvet had to hold Matt back from running over to Jetr, and physically carried him out of the room back to the pod.   
“The Samuel wouldn’t approve.” One of Jetr’s subordinates said.   
Jetr tried to ignore the feeling of ice down his spine. “The Samuel doesn’t need to know.”

“That was the Matt!”   
“And he’s not done with us.” Jetr said dismissively, succeeding at hiding his fear. “What would the Samuel do, leave in a pod to find him? We don’t know anything about them.”   
“The Samuel _might_ have left when he found the Matt, but now he _will_.” Another subordinate clucked from behind the computer.   
Jetr bit back a sharp retort.

Outside, Matt wiped furiously at his eyes. “How could you do that?! He knows where my father is! He knows _my name_!”   
“I know, I know, but we _can’t_ , Matt. Not here, not now.”   
“So we’re just meant to do _nothing_?” Matt hissed.

Hyvet sighed. “I never said that. Come, help me find their ship.” The two snuck around the side of the base until they found another ship, clearly used by Jetr’s group. Hyvet pulled a tracker out of his backpack, and they looked for an out of the way cranny, finally affixing it near the tailpipe, activating it, and heading back to their ship.

“Better?” Hyvet smiled.   
Matt gave him a watery smile. “I was right, you know.”   
“About what?” Hyvet asked.   
“I am in love with you.” Matt replied.

Unfortunately, Pidge wasn’t having such a wonderful time. She had entered the Memory portion of the compound, wherein robots would be created in the image of her family for her to interact with. She put on the helmet, and visualized everyone she missed, closing her eyes as she did so. She opened them when she heard her dog bark, then looked up to see her parents peering over her. She removed the helmet as several other figures began to materialize, but she didn’t seem to notice them.

However, the helmets had been designed for a variety of species, but not humans. The memories were somewhat… corrupted. Instead of eyes and mouths, her family had sockets dripping red ooze that looked too much like blood for Pidge to be comfortable. “Come hug us, Katie.” Her mother said, the ooze sticking her mouth together and leaving long strings.

Pidge scrambled away, pushed up against the door. “I don’t… you’re not my family…”   
Her father smiled. “Of course we are, Pigwidgeon.”   
Matt had somehow snuck up next to her while she was focused on their parents, and laid a hand on her shoulder. Pidge jerked away in surprise, though part of Matt’s hand stuck to the fabric. She frantically pressed the exit button, then ran, leaving the door open. All seven of the figures shambled after her.

A little ways away, Shiro exited the locker room (fully clothed) only to run into Lotor and Lance.   
“Hello, Champion.” Lotor smiled, though it bared more incredibly sharp teeth than was necessary. “I need you to do something for me.”   
Shiro managed to restrain a flinch at the words ‘Champion’. “I don’t feel like doing anything for you.”

“Don’t be like that, it’s about my niece.” Lotor huffed.   
“She’s not defenseless.” Lance pointed out. “She’s probably a better fighter than me.”   
“She’s probably a better paladin than you too!” Lotor snapped.   
Lance recoiled, and Shiro glared at Lotor. “That was uncalled for.”

Lotor passed a hand over his eyes. “Allances… I am incredibly sorry. He’s right, that was uncalled for. I just worry about leaving Allura with _him_ when Coran has proven untrustworthy when it comes to men near Allura already.”   
“It’s alright, Uncle.” Lance sighed.   
Shiro frowned. “What do you mean, _him_?”   
“Farracot, king of the Drule.” Lance replied.

“Hang on, isn’t that your sister’s descendant?” Shiro raised an eyebrow. “Why would he be creeping on his great-great-great-however many greats-aunt?”   
“The Drule are disgusting creatures.” Lotor rolled his eyes. “Farracot knows this, which is why he latched himself onto the nearest Altean woman.”   
Shiro frowned. “And Allura hasn’t knocked him into next Sunday? Is she truly uncomfortable, or are you just trying to get me to act like a lunkhead and interrupt her diplomatic negotiations?” 

Lotor’s eye twitched. “Are you really going to take that chance, Paladin? He’s making a move on your woman.”   
“Allura’s not _my_ woman. She’s her own person, and you’d do well to remember that.” Shiro huffed. “And I’m sorry, but I trust you about as much as I trust a rattlesnake in my boots.”   
“What.” Lotor said flatly. “What is a rattlesnake?”

“It’s a varmint, much like you.” Shiro said, before glancing back at the locker room. “You okay in there, buddy?”   
As a matter of fact, Keith was not okay. After Shiro had left, he had spotted an alien with a knife.   
“You’re not supposed to have those on Korian.” Keith said.   
The alien sneered at him. “Quiznak off, Galra.”

“I’m not… I’m not that fond of Zarkon and the Empire.” Keith said.   
The alien looked interested. “Really? I need a man on the inside. I’m going to kill the spawn of Zarkon.”   
Keith felt cold. “You mean… Lotor?”   
The alien snorted. “No, of course not. The main three are immortal, but the so-called ‘nephew’… he’s new. He’s probably mortal, just like us.”

Keith glared at the alien. “That’s where I draw the line. Lance is a good guy, he’s not going to hurt anyone.”   
“He’s Zarkon’s grandson.” The alien huffed. “And he’s not ‘good’ if he sides with _them_. But fine—if you’re not with me, you’re against me.”

He ran toward Keith, swinging his knife, and Keith jumped back, though not before getting a shallow cut on his forearm. Suddenly, the alien froze, and a blue light appeared around him. His eyes widened and he began to scream silently before he was simply… gone. Keith stared at where the alien had been, then looked around the room as though he was going to reappear out of nowhere. He looked back at where he’d been, noticing a small burn mark.

Keith felt ill, but adrenaline kicked in. Lance. He ran out of the room, running straight into Shiro.   
“Whoa there, where’s the fire?” Shiro asked, before frowning. “Did you set that room on fire?”   
Keith ignored him, lunging for Lance and pulling him into a tight embrace. “Oh, thank _God_. There was a guy with a knife in there, and he said he wanted to kill _you_ because your family was immortal and I just… I’m sorry, Lance.”

“You’re bleeding on my nephew’s clothes.” Lotor scoffed. “And Keet’ahn, we have spoken about propriety.”  
Lance hugged Keith back, nestling his face into Keith’s hair. “I’m sorry too. You’re the only thing that makes sense anymore… thank you for coming back. And for getting hurt for me.”   
Shiro was about to comment, but then he noticed Lotor’s face. Instead of annoyed or angry, he only seemed… amused, and somewhat calculating. He met Shiro’s eyes and raised a finger to his lips.

Shiro was about to drag both Lance and Keith back to the castle and far, far away from Lotor, but then Pidge appeared out of nowhere and ran to them.   
“Shiro!” She yelled.   
Lance and Keith broke apart.

“What’s wrong, Pidge?” Shiro asked. “Breathe, breathe…”   
“Matt’s the asthmatic.” Pidge huffed. “But seriously, I was accessing this ‘memory’ thing to see my family again, and they looked like demons and I—”   
Around her, everyone tensed.   
“I think I get it, Pidge.” Shiro said.   
“I didn’t even describe them!” Pidge pointed out.

Keith forcefully turned her around. Her ‘family’ had followed her, accompanied by similar versions of the General and Dr. Shirogane, and someone she couldn’t quite see in the back.   
“Katie, you’re much faster than your old man!” Samuel laughed, dropping some ooze on the floor.   
“There you are, Takashi. You worried us.” The General grinned. Ooze dripped down her chin.

There was the sound of something shutting behind them. When they turned to look, metal doors blocked off all exits.   
“Warning, malfunction alert. Malfunction alert.” A soothing voice said. “Would all guests please avoid area 34, module 29-A. Thank you for your cooperation.”   
“Th-th-that’s a _tanum_ …” Lance stuttered, backing up against the wall. Lotor had paled as well.

“What’s a tanum?” Keith asked.   
“It’s a term for when someone on Altea dies… and comes back. Usually because they need to avenge a hurt family member.” Lotor explained. For the first time, Keith saw him look completely scared.   
“They’re not dead! I managed to contact my family!” Pidge hissed. “The Shiroganes probably aren’t dead either, Low Torso!”

The malfunction spread to nearby ships, and recognizing a familiar pattern in coding, pulled it to the area. Of course, it didn’t stand up to the malfunction, and the two patterns came out the same way as the others. Lance and Lotor both winced as Alfor and Idras appeared with the same oozing eyes and mouths.

“Well, _they_ are.” Lotor snapped.   
Everyone was pressed up against different walls by their respective family members, leaving one shambling robot in the middle of the room. This one _had_ been created by Pidge, and really was the cause of the malfunction. Korian had a strict policy about creating images of those _on_ Korian, but the different memories and Lance’s shapeshifting had persuaded the mainframe that they were two different people. As well as this, the template, like Alfor and Idras, had already been in the mainframe from someone else using the Memory system as intended.

“Shiro, fire up your arm!” Pidge screamed, trying to dodge around her ‘family’.   
“No! When they say it’s a neutral planet, they’ll _vaporize_ you if you break the peace!” Keith yelled.   
The robot that looked like Lance swung its head towards Keith.   
Lotor was frozen with fear upon seeing his sister. Tears began to run down his face. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry Idras… I’m sorry…”

Lance grabbed his hand. “They’re here for both of us. I should have been nicer to Allura—”   
“No.” Lotor said. “No, they’re not here for you. I may be about to die, but listen Allances—when I said earlier that Allura’s a better fighter, I meant it. You have more heart than her. You’re a good boy, and I’m proud that you’re my nephew.”   
Keith, distracted as he was, thought that was the most sincere that Lotor had ever sounded.

Idras cocked her head. “Die? You’re not going to die, Lotor.”   
Lance sighed. “They won’t come back from the grave to stop Allura from harming the rest of the family but they will when I’m angry with her. I-I told her she’d always be my sister, why is she prioritized like this?”

“Allura isn’t prioritized.” Alfor patted Lance on the shoulder, and he flinched. “We love you both _equally_.”   
“I’m going to die, can’t you just tell me the truth for once?!” Lance spat.   
“Can we not deal with your emotional issues right now?!” Pidge demanded.

The robotic Lance turned to her. “It’s okay, Katie. It’s all okay. I was just a bit… stressed.”   
Pidge pointed at him. “You, shut up. You have done nothing but be incredibly unhelpful since you got here. And don’t call me Katie, asshole.”

Robotic Lance laughed. “You’re really funny, Pidge. Isn’t that right, Matt?”   
Matt grinned. “Yep. That’s my little sister alright, very funny.”   
Colleen had cornered Pidge, and despite desperate kicks, was hugging her tightly. Samuel joined her, and Pidge began to sink into the ooze.

“SHIRO! KEITH! LANCE!” She screamed.   
“Pidge!” Keith dodged around their own parents to run to her, and Shiro did the same.   
“Katie, grab my hand!” Shiro said. He managed to use his metal arm to pull her out, but unfortunately Keith was yanked away. Robot Lance grinned at him, running a hand through his hair. “Have I ever told you that when we first met and you almost kissed me, all I could think about was how pretty your eyes were?”

Keith tried not to shudder at the trail of ooze left behind. “You… remember that?”   
“I remember everything, Keith.” The robot said, before twitching uncontrollably. “I remember our first kiss on the Balmera—I remember our first kiss on the Main Ship… I-I-I remember…”   
“Hey!” Lance had slipped past Idras and Alfor, who had been confused by the Lance-Bot and had assumed it was their son, powering down to allow him to talk to Keith. Lotor poked them experimentally.

“I may be about to die and have my soul wander the cosmos alone for eternity for yelling at my sister, but you stay away from Keith!” Lance hissed. “He doesn’t deserve… whatever this is.”   
The robot twitched again, but stepped away from Keith to look at Lance. It twitched a few more times, but then gave a slow, wicked smile that Keith was used to seeing on Lotor. God, he hated this day.

“You and I both know what you think of yourself, Allances.” The robot purred. His footsteps began to leave ooze as he circled Lance. “And let’s be honest, you’re not the only one. At least Tavrotine D’Elaas was honest with you, but what about everyone else? When will Keith leave you like Myri? He seems close to the Black Paladin.” The robot gave a sick grin. “History repeats itself, Allances.”   
“I hate you so much.” Lance deadpanned.   
The robot laughed, spraying Lance with ooze. “Oh, I know you do.”

Lance wiped it off his cheek with one finger. “No. I mean, this program is not bringing me enjoyment. And I know you’re not a _tanum_ , because I wasn’t dead last time I checked. End program.” The Shiroganes, the weakest programs, collapsed. Shiro winced at the sight of his parents lying on the floor surrounded by what looked like blood, and quickly turned away.   
“I’m here because they don’t want you.” The robot hissed. “Because you’ll never be enough.”

“If I’m not enough, then you aren’t either.” Lance shrugged. “End program.”   
Alfor and Idras collapsed as well, and Lotor jumped back in surprise.   
Keith took Lance’s hand. “You are not my boyfriend. End program.” The Holt collapsed, as did the dog.

“It takes more than that for _me_ to be defeated.” Lance-bot smirked, ooze sluicing down his cheeks like tears.   
“You’re looking at a good chunk of Voltron and some Galra royalty.” Pidge said from a vantage point on Shiro’s shoulders like a kid at the fair. “And we all have a common goal.”   
“On three, one, two, three…” Shiro said.

“End program.” Everyone said. Lance-bot dropped to the floor, still twitching, before going still.   
Lotor swept his hair back. “Well, that was eventful, and honestly quite stupid. Katherine Holt, what were you thinking, creating those things?”   
Pidge flinched. “How do you know my name, Pricy Lowering?”

“I have my sources.” Lotor smirked. “And I know you know _my_ name, just act your age and call me by my title.”   
“How about you act your age and die.” Pidge deadpanned.

Keith stifled a smile, but Shiro didn’t. Keith reached out and squeezed Lance’s hand to keep him from interfering. “Okay, settle down gremlin. Lance, want to go to the sunroom?”   
Lance forced a smile. “Yeah. I do.”

The Korian staff appeared out of nowhere, lifting the metal doors and removing the robots. Pidge clung to Shiro, wanting some small semblance of family. Keith and Lance immediately tried to forget seeing all of it, while Lotor slunk off. Shiro was quiet, thinking about how Pidge almost died and though comparatively they didn’t speak as much, seeing his parents like that was anything but comforting.

He forced a smile when Pidge looked at him quizzically. “Let’s… go find Allura and Hunk, okay?”   
“Sure.” Pidge held his hand tightly though, as if she was afraid that he too would turn to ooze.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The motion Lance did that made Coran and Allura flip out at the beginning was more or less an Altean middle finger.


End file.
